


Finding peace

by de_monik



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: -Ish, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Gen, I hope, Slow Burn, and i want god to yeet me, and trauma, darker than canon, dealing with the past, i think, it's 4 am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 48,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25581628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/de_monik/pseuds/de_monik
Summary: Any fight he had in him drained. He looked into her eyes again, finding only understanding there, she put an arm around him, giving him a side hug.“I understand,” she said, her voice soft, “but Hiccup, you can’t keep avoiding that place, for your own sake, we have done this many times, spying on Berk is nothing new."
Relationships: Eret/OC, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Everyone, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Original Character(s), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 92
Kudos: 123





	1. Hope for adventure (and peace)

“When are you getting him out of my home? You know we can never be at peace with them.”

“ _We can! All you need to do is understand!”_

“Stop with those foolish thoughts, the sooner the monsters go back to where they belong the sooner everything will go back to how it belongs!”

_“How is it better than the future we could have together with them?”_

“It just is!”

_“Well it wasn’t better for me!”_

“This isn’t about you, end of discussion, son.”

_“It never is, it never was and it will never be about me, dad, not to you or anyone.”_

“I’m sorry son.”

_“I’m not.”_

Hiccup’s eyes shot open, yet he remained laying still, he was used to the nightmares at this point. Five years had passed from that day, and he wasn’t alone anymore, yet the nightmares still don’t let him rest, and he knew they wouldn’t until he went back to talk to his father. He could do it right now, go talk to him and be free to rest, but he wasn’t ready, and he would never be ready by this rate, the hurt still too present for him to forgive, let alone forget.

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes. It was still dark outside his small hut, but he knew he won’t get any more sleep that night. Toothless was still sleeping on his slab, so trying not to make too much noise Hiccup slipped outside of his hut and went to the cliff side his home was on, and sat down. Being alone with his thoughts wasn’t his favorite pastime, but with Toothless and everyone else still asleep he didn’t have much of a choice.

He looked down to his small village. His village of six people, including himself. Six for now at least. By the weeks end there will only be two of them left. Hilda and Toke decided to move to join the Defenders of the Wing village as they were expecting a child, and with Hiccup’s insistence that his island wasn’t fit for a baby, joining Mala and her people was the best for them. The young couple were also taking a little boy, Ulf, and his sister, Frida, with them. The two kids that Hiccup himself found abandoned after their tribe was wiped out because of a land dispute. After they leave, only Hiccup and Storm will be left on the island that they call their hideout. They and the dragons, of course.

Storm, the one who managed to make Hiccup believe in himself. She was fierce, dedicated, kind-hearted and she was the sister Hiccup wished he had back on Berk. She was the only person he interacted with regularly and Hiccup himself sometimes couldn’t believe they were so alike, both appearance and personality wise. Apart from the unconditional love for dragons, they had a peg leg each, their hair color was almost identical, Mala was even convinced that they were siblings the first few times they been seen by her. Their sense of humor was the same, and with Toothless’ contribution, they’ve annoyed more than a few dragon trappers with their dry sarcasm. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that Storm was just a human Toothless and, as strange as it sounds, that thought comforted him. Storm had once said that the four of them were family in everything but blood, he, Toothless and she were three siblings and Shadow, Storm’s Skrill, was like the grumpy uncle everyone loved.

“What’s up, Chief?”

Hiccup startled, not having heard her approach while he was lost deep in thought. He looked her over, looking for any wounds that might be obvious, having found nothing he relaxed. Storm made her way the short distance that separated them and handed him a cup filled with mead while sitting down next to him.

“So, what’s up, Chief? Why are you out on your own in the middle of the night?”

“Oh, you know, nightmares.”

“Oh I do know, want to talk about it?”

“No really, I’d rather hear what news you have, considering you were gone for five days and didn’t immediately go to your hut to bathe, you have something to tell me.” Storm sighed deeply, and Hiccup turned his head towards her, looking into her eyes, knowing that whatever she was going to tell him he won’t like. He saw her eyes filled with sadness and he dreaded what she had to say.

“Okay, so first some good news!” she started, genuine excitement filling her voice. “The Wingmaidens are all good, no dragon hunters have come near their island, so they’re safe. Mala is getting ready to welcome Hilda and the others to her home, she said that they’ll be having a small feast and she’ll introduce them to her people during it, so they feel welcome, she even invited Dagur, and Heather already confirmed that she’ll be there, Mala also expects us to stay at least for a while after we accompany the young family there.” She stoped, taking a sip out of her cup, the excitement gone from her voice completely as she continued, this time about a topic she knew would be a sore spot for him.

“Berk, well umm, Berk was trying to capture a Nadder when I stopped there, I mean they managed to capture it, but that’s why I was a day late, I waited until it got dark and set the dragon free. B-but, Hiccup, the men that were capturing the Nadder were-were careful with him, they were saying things like ‘don’t hurt it’, ‘make sure that the wings are not straining’ and, fuck, I-I just don’t understand, I mean, you know that this isn’t the first time this happened...” she trailed off, voice growing quiet, unsure, like she didn’t understand what they were trying to do, and truth be told, she didn’t.

Hiccup didn’t understand either, what Storm said confused him, truly this wasn’t the first time that the Hooligans have tried to capture and not _harm_ dragons, the ones who come to the island at least. They never went searching for dragons, and that made the occasional job of keeping dragons away from Berk, and its people, easier.

Hiccup didn’t trust those people near a dragon, wild or not. Especially after the reaction he got after storming out after the last argument he had with his father, he could never forget the fear and disgust that he saw in the people’s eyes. The way he saw every one of those hands grip one weapon or another, he still remembered the teenagers he finally thought to be his friends, standing there with heads hung low, not daring to look at the runt that saved their lives. He remembered Astrid and how her father had to keep a hand around her because she was trying to get to him, the desperation in her eyes clear as day.

He remembered just walking into the woods with Toothless by his side, not saying a word, not looking back even once. Finding a bag with Toothless’ prosthetic fin, a saddle, all his notes that he had left in the forge and letters from Astrid and Gobber was also memorable. He had nightmares about that sometimes, about all of the Hooligans just attacking him and Toothless as they exited the house. 

“Chief, we need to do something about that,” Storm said, staring into her now empty cup. Hiccup looked down into his still full cup and sighed, he knew that they had to do something, he just didn’t know what and that worried him. He always had at least an idea for a plan, but as soon as it came to Berk he felt lost, not knowing what to do, he had been like that as soon as he left Berk.

“What do you propose, Storm? Because I’ve got nothing.”

“Well, you might want to start drinking that mead Cheif, because you’re not going to like what I’m thinking,” she said, determination burning in her eyes, and waited until he drank before continuing. “So… at the end of the week we will be the only humans left here at the hideout, and I think that the best plan would be to head to Berk and stay there for a while, to-to gather information, to spy on the village and-“

“What?” he interrupted her, only then catching up on her train of thought. “Storm-what, no we can’t do that, i-if they find us we’re dead, no... we can’t even think about doing th-“

“Hiccup! Calm down and listen to me, we will not get caught, we never get caught, no matter how close anyone comes to discovering us! We both have dragons that blend into the night and Berk's forests are vast. If, and I mean if, not when, someone comes near us we will already be gone before they know we were there.”

“Storm, I don’t know,” he trailed off, any fight he had in him drained. He looked into her eyes again, finding only understanding there, she put an arm around him, giving him a side hug.

“I understand,” she said, her voice soft, “but Hiccup, you can’t keep avoiding that place, for your own sake, we have done this many times, spying on Berk is nothing new. We go there, get information and then decide what to do next. And while there you’ll maybe get some closure, you’ll see Gobber, Astrid, Stoick, and maybe you’ll stop wondering about them for a while.”

“Okay,” he said after a few tense minutes, “you’re right, and if anything does happen, at least I’ll have you with me.”

“I’ll always be with you Hiccup, that’s what family is for.”

“You’re the best sister out there, thank you. Now, go take a bath, you stink.” He laughed getting out of the hug, she scoffed in mock offence, getting up. She ruffled his hair while passing him her empty cup, after a few steps she turned to him.

“And Hiccup, I know it’s hard, I’ve been there, but know this, if the time comes the three of us will sooner die than let anything happen to you.” She turned and walked away with a small smile on her lips. He smiled too, knowing that he would do the same for them, that was his family after all.


	2. Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup, after five years of staying away, was finally going to see the village again, the tribe and house which he grew up with, but brought out only bad memories.

Riding Toothless usually filled Hiccup with joy and content, but not now. Right now they were riding to Berk and all that Hiccup could feel was dread, the closer they got, the more he regretted saying ‘yes’. The island was a few hours away still, but they were so accustomed to flying long distances that the time seemed to pass a lot quicker. As they neared Berk, the uneasy feelings started to grow more and more. Hiccup, after five years of staying away, was finally going to see the village again, the tribe and house which he grew up with, but brought out only bad memories.

He was thankful that he wasn’t doing this alone, Toothless was with him, sure, but they both had horrible memories attached to that place. Storm was the one not letting him turn back and flee, not physically, but mentally. She told him before they left the hideout:

“We can turn back any time you want, I won’t judge or hold that against you, but you’ll need to be sure that that’s what you want, because the longer you stay away, the harder it will get.”

And, Thor dammit, she was right. The longer he went without as much as glancing at the island, the more he felt helpless as soon as he remembered it. It was a terrible feeling. She was his support this time, even though they haven’t been speaking almost the entire flight, he knew that Storm understood, she always had. The silence they shared was comfortable, Hiccup laying back on Toothless, watching the stars, Storm was slouched on Shadow, rhythmically stroking one of his metallic head spikes with closed eyes. He closed his eyes too, letting the wind blow away his worries.

Hiccup opened his eyes after what felt was seconds, but turned out to be an hour. The island of Berk was in barely in view, and Toothless’ loud purring was what woke him up. He looked to his right where Storm was flying, her slouched form betraying that she was still asleep, no longer petting Shadow’s spikes. He flew closer to her, wanting to wake her so they could come up with a plan, a plan that they _should_ have had before leaving. He started gently calling her name after getting close to her. Shadow looked back at him, not wavering, and started purring just as Toothless had, gently waking Storm. They’ve all learned that waking each other gently was the best, because living in the wild for years at a time meant that people become a little skittish, and waking them up harshly was a sure fire way to get injured. Waking a skittish person on dragon back is just as bad.

Still flying close Hiccup opened his mouth to talk, only to be silenced by Storm’s hand to his face. He closed his mouth, looking at her with furrowed brows. She lowered her hand to stifle a yawn, rubbed her eyes and finally motioned to him that he could talk.

“What’s the plan?” he asked, not wanting to waste any time. Storm blinked at Hiccup, boredom in her eyes, Hiccup waited for her to say something, being awake again brought back all of those bad feelings, and he needed something to reassure him. She blinked at him again, her facial expression changed to one of disbelieve and he could see a question in her eyes ‘Are you serious?’

“The same as always Chief,” she started with an equally disbelieving tone. “We land on the opposite side of the island the village is, we scout out a place for a camp, rest for a bit, then we make the trek to the village, find the places to hide and then… You know, start spying on people?”

“Ah, yes, that is exactly the plan, yes,” Hiccup mumbled out. Storm gave him a long look and sighed deeply, face changing to understanding.

“Hiccup, we have done this time and time before, nothing bad is going to happen.”

“And if something does happen?”

“Then we deal with it together, as a team, a family. You aren’t alone anymore, you have all of us with you, you don’t have to do things alone, I just need you to understand that, especially now.” Both of the dragons rumbled with agreement, Hiccup gently petted Toothless, looking out to the steadily approaching island.

“I do understand that Storm, it’s just… well, bad memories breed bad decisions and we – _I_ can’t make any bad decisions when it concerns dragons… and us.” He quietly added.

“I’m with you Hiccup, I’ll be there to call out any yak dung worthy decisions you make. You’re my Chief, but you’re also human and humans make mistakes.”

”Thanks, I don’t know what I would do without you, honestly.” He sent her a small, yet genuine, smile, receiving the same from her. He instantly felt better after talking to her, yet that feeling of dread hadn’t left him fully. Although that wasn’t surprising, he was going back to the island full of people who were ready to kill him after he sacrificed everything for them. The dread was unwanted, yet expected.

It was deep into the night when they reached the beaches of Berk, their dragons touching the sand without a sound. As soon as his feet, well foot, touched the island, fear gripped his heart. Hiccup took a deep breath, he didn’t have time to fear, they had a job to do, one more important than his feelings. He glanced at his companions, gave them a small nod, and entered the nearby forest with them following closely. He knew these woods the best, these woods gave him peace when the village was too loud and gave him the best gift he could have ever asked for, his friendship with Toothless, and he never forgot the woods because of that.

Now, looking for a place to set up camp, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to the fragile beginnings of his friendship with Toothless. After leaving this island he promised to himself that he would protect any and every dragon he could. ‘Let’s do this’ he thought.


	3. Spying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup already had their path planned and was getting up when Storm grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. He looked at her startled, but she wasn’t looking at him.

After about an hour of walking they decided to set up camp near the cove, Hiccup would have preferred the camp to be _in_ the cove, but they didn’t know if it was frequented by anyone. Sure, when he left only him and Astrid really knew about it, but he wouldn’t risk being discovered by believing that it stayed a secret. Being near the cove was best if they wanted a convenient way to get both food and fresh water, and the fact that Hiccup still remembered the path to the village from the cove was a plus.

They quickly set up camp and told their dragons to stay in it, or they tried to, at least. Both Toothless and Shadow wanted to follow their riders, not really trusting them to be safe, even though both riders were wearing their dragon scale armor, had changewing skins at the ready and were figuratively, or literally in Storm’s case, armed to the teeth. The riders had to spend about fifteen minutes talking and reassuring their companions that they would be safe before they could leave the camp without their dragons trailing behind.

They quietly moved through the forest with Hiccup in the lead. It didn’t take long for them to reach the edge of the forest, a lot less time than in his teenage years, but he was a lot more accustomed to forest terrain than before. They stalled at the edge for a while, surveying their surroundings, looking out for the patrolling guards, who were lazily walking around the village. After one guard passed by their hiding place Storm gave a small nod to Hiccup, a silent agreement that Hiccup will lead them to their next hiding place.

The pair quickly donned their dragon appropriate helmets and moved without hesitation. They managed to reach their destination without a hitch, avoiding any rock covered surfaces, as not to let their metallic prosthetics make sound. They were hidden under a changewing skin, behind one of the statues that welcomed people into the Meade hall. Although it was after midnight Vikings were still periodically exiting the building. Considering it was mid spring and the weather was mostly warm, most of the drunk Vikings were finishing their conversations near the entrance of the hall, and that was very beneficial for the pair.

After hours behind the statue they both had their heads above the changewing skin, both for hearing better and having the chance to breathe fresh air. They were still cautious, but having only their heads out gave them a chance that if anyone did notice them, they would be drunk enough to think that they imagined two floating heads, rather that two grown humans in bizarre clothing.

Tonight their spying wasn’t giving them any hope, during their time five people exited the hall and only two had talked clearly enough for them to understand their conversation, which was about fish. Not even about fishing troubles or food shortage, the drunk men were just talking about fish colorings and patterns. It was easy to say that they wouldn’t be getting any worthwhile information that night.

It was an hour before sunrise when they decided to call it a night and get out of the village while it was still dark. Hiccup already had their path planned and was getting up when Storm grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. He looked at her, startled, but she wasn’t looking at him, she had her head angled so her ear was in the space that was left in the middle of the hall and statue. She noticed him staring at her and motioned for him to do the same, so he angled himself the same as her and listened. Firstly, he heard the buildings huge doors close, she must have heard them opening and that’s why she stopped him, he thought. Secondly, he heard a voice that was still haunting his nightmares.

“It’s a mess Gobber! What are we going to do? We have nothing!” the voice was slightly slurred, but unmistakably belonged to his father. Hiccup tensed and turned his head so his eye lined up with the empty space, all he saw was his father’s and Gobber’s backs. They were standing close together with Gobber’s hand on Stoick’s shoulder.

“We’ll find something Chief, Berk has faced bigger threats – we have faced bigger threats before and won!” the smith basically shouted. The riders were both looking through the crack now, Storm had her hand on Hiccups shoulder gripping it tightly, mirroring the vikings' position, but while Gobber’s hand was meant for comfort, Storm’s was anchoring him to reality.

“I know Gobber,” Stoick growled, “I just wish things were different, that we wouldn’t have to deal with this!”

“I know Stoick, we all wish that things would be easier,” The smith started descending the stairs, after a few steps he stopped, looking back at his friend he sighed, his voice barely hearable at that distance and it didn’t help that he was also talking in a lower tone. “You also wish that he was still here, we all do, because he would’ve made things easier.” The chief’s shoulders dropped and he let out a sigh, following his friend down the stairs.

“Let’s go get some sleep Gobber, we have a hard day ahead of us.”

The riders waited until the Vikings reached a safe distance before taking their respective changewing skins and cloaking themselves with them. They retraced their path back to the forest and kept going until they were a safe distance from the village when they lowered their skins, but kept going to the direction of their camp without stopping. Hiccup was leading again, they both didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention from any Vikings that might be wandering or training in the woods, so they had a silent agreement to not speak until they were back at the camp.

It took them longer to get back to the camp because the pair were feeling exhaustion deep in their bones. Once back, their dragons wasted no time and were upon their respective riders as soon as they were in sight. While Toothless knocked Hiccup down and started slobbering all over him in excitement, Shadow was sniffing all over Storm inspecting her for any injuries. Hiccup’s helmet was knocked off by the Night Fury’s tongue and Hiccup was play wrestling with his dragon, Storm had taken off her helmet herself and was holding it in her right hand, she was standing calmly with her hands stretched out to the sides. She knew that Shadow wasn’t going to be satisfied until he checked every inch of her, so she let him sniff her in peace.

Once the dragons stopped, the group moved deeper into the small clearing that they were calling their camp. Storm took Hiccup’s helmet from his hands and put it together with her helmet near their bags that contained food, clothes and other supplies. While near the bags she took some bread and cheese out, breaking both in half and going to sit with Hiccup. She handed him the food and leaned back on Shadow, who was laying behind her, in front of Toothless, who was behind Hiccup. The riders ate their food while their dragons were playing together behind them, doing their best not to move too much so their riders could rest. The dragons didn’t want to leave their riders after they got back, so even though they were bored they happily played with the rock they found next to them.

After eating the pair were relaxing, looking at the sky and passing clouds, gathering their thoughts. They rarely had time just to relax together anymore, having to deal with dragon hunters, Drago and now Berk. When they were younger, sixteen or seventeen, they would always find time just to be together as the family they are, exploring, playing pranks on each other, having fun. As they got older they discovered more dragons, more islands, more friends and allies, but they also discovered more dangers and made more enemies. As time went on it seemed that the only time they had together was always marked by danger and, more than often, threats of death.

But now, even on, _supposedly,_ an enemy island, they enjoyed the time they had just to be near without having to fight for their lives. They knew they had to talk about what they heard in the village and plan their next course of action accordingly.

“So Berk’s under threat of something, and they’re trying to capture dragons _why_? I still don’t get that.” Hiccup broke the silence, still cloud gazing, Storm hummed, not taking her eyes from the sky, he continued. “And they’re missing someone who could help them? What’s that all about?” He turned to her, the confusion clear on his face, his sister also turned to him and chuckled.

“You really need some sleep if you can’t put the puzzle together Chief,” at that Hiccup scoffed in mock offence. “I think we have a common enemy with them, you remember last month I had an encounter with the hunters near Berk? It was a small ship with no dragons on board and a small crew, when I confronted them they said they weren’t there to trap dragons, they were there to scout out an enemy island. At the time we thought they meant the Berserkers because they were the only island with dragons, but what if they meant Berk?”

“Berk was the closest island, but why would they – why would Drago target Berk?” Hiccup asked even more confused. The hunters scouting Berk made more sense, because the island was the only one for a while and them going near it to reach Berserkers was a stretch. Storm was also thinking about that, what use was Berk to Drago? Then realization dawned on her, her eyes widened and her hand shot out to grip Hiccup’s. He looked at her as she only said one word.

“Johann.”


	4. Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If that exchange was anything to go by, they really haven’t changed a bit, but what else is there to expect? Being stuck on one island in the middle of nowhere wasn’t the best place for character growth.

“What?”

“Johann.”

“Yes, I heard you the first time. What about him?” Hiccup asked not understanding anything she wanted him to piece together. She stared at him, eyes full of excitement, just like when they discovered a new dragon or destroyed another hunter ship. With that look in her eyes he knew she pieced everything together.

“Johann was working with the dragon hunters before he died, he knew that Berk’s heir disappeared, he knew who the heir was and how he looked like. Johann knew you and he had seen you without your helmet a lot of times, and if he told Krogan…” the excitement in her eyes was replaced with horror, the same horror that filled Hiccup’s body. “and if Krogan told Drago then he’s targeting Berk to-“

“To destroy it or to make us stop, or both,” he finished her thought fear gripping his heart. Yes, he did leave Berk and his father, but he still loved him, as crazy as that was, and he didn’t want the tribe to be wiped out, he didn’t want them to die, he didn’t want Gobber or _Astrid_ to die. He gripped his head, panic building up inside him, he had enough of death, after the Red Death, after countless times of him and Storm almost dying. And how did Berk trying to capture but not _kill_ dragons fit into this?

He arms wrapped around him and a voice told him to breathe, he listened, after what felt like hours he unclenched his eyes and lifted his head only to be met by darkness. Before he could start panicking again he heard Toothless purring behind him, and the wings that had enclosed them lifted. He took another deep breath and started petting Toothless as the dragon put his head into Hiccup’s lap.

Storm had released him from her arms and was now looking at him with concern. She gave him a sad smile and made him look at her by grabbing his chin and turning it towards her, dropping her hand as Shadow nudged her asking to be petted, also wanting to know if everything was okay. Storm still had that sad smile on her face as she sighed.

“Get some sleep Chief, this is taking more from you than we thought and take off your prosthetic we can’t let it get infected, I’ll wake you later to eat.” She stood up and went to their bags at the edge of their camp, took out a jar filled with salve which she handed to Hiccup after coming back. The salve was a special mix that helped them take care of their missing limbs on long trips. He took the jar without a word, because he knew she was right, he needed sleep. While he took care of his prosthetic and stump, she went back to their bags and found the notebook that was filled with maps and routes that the dragon hunters frequented, deciding to study them while her Chief slept.

She was so engrossed in the notebook that she didn’t notice Hiccup falling asleep wrapped up in Toothless’ wings. She found nothing new in her studying, so she put the notebook away and thought about something else she could do. After a few minutes she decided to go back to the village even though it was about mid-day no one would see her with her changewing skin and more people meant more talk, which meant more information.

She opted to leave her helmet behind but didn’t remove any of her armor. Before leaving she scratched and kissed Shadow on his snout, with a firm ‘Stay’ she made her way to the village. The path was easy to remember so she had no problem getting back to the edge of the woods that bordered the village, having cloaked herself with the skin half way through walking she didn’t need to be as stealthy as before. Still, she sneaked closer to the village’s plaza, as there was a group of what seemed to be young adults there, and other than them only lone vikings were walking around, and lone vikings were never a good information source, unless threatened.

She was hiding between two houses when she finally could make out what the group was talking about, well yelling about would fit better. The group had five people, two women and three men, they acted like friends, but one of the girls was saying she’ll axe ‘Snot’s’ head off. ‘So these are the people who helped Hiccup defeat the Red Death,’ she thought. The one getting threatened was Snotlout, while the one doing the threatening was Astrid, the twins who were cheering it on were Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Fishlegs was the one who was trying to defuse the whole situation. She only knew them from Hiccup’s stories about them, but they haven’t changed a lot from what it seemed.

“For the last time Snotlout this is not a joke!” Yelled Astrid bringing her axe to his chin, Snotlout already had his hand up in a surrendering manner, but that didn’t do anything to calm he anger. “This is not a joke! You can’t slack off and bring nothing to the meeting next week!”

“Chill out Astrid, one missed watch isn’t going to change anything, a dragon comes to Berk once every month or so, and one escaped a week and a half ago, we’re not expecting one for at least two weeks.”

“But what if it did Snotlout, what if one decided to come last night? We wouldn’t know that because you didn’t bother to watch!” Astrid was even closer to him now, digging the axe edge into his throat.

‘Last night?’ Storm thought. Last night she and Hiccup reached the island and if someone was keeping watch, they would’ve been discovered as they landed. Dark dragon scales are good for the night sky, not for the light sand. She silently sent a ‘thank you’ to Snotlout for being dumb enough not to keep watch. If that exchange was anything to go by, they really haven’t changed a bit, but what else is there to expect? Being stuck on one island in the middle of nowhere wasn’t the best place for character growth. Storm could understand Astrid’s anger too, if Berk is facing danger and a dragon is somehow an answer to their problems she would be furious too if someone missed two dragons landing on the island. And a meeting? They needed to come back to the village daily to find out when and where it would be taking place, and from what she heard so far, the meeting involved the dragons somehow.

The group didn’t talk about more important things, but Storm did gather that they all had their respective surveying positions and they had this meeting every day to share information. Other than that, Astrid put Snotlout on fish gutting duty for the week as punishment, which he complained about until they were out of earshot. Storm stayed for a while but nothing else caught her attention, only a few people crossed the plaza and none were talking about something important to her. By the sun’s position she could tell that more than an hour had passed, so she made her way back to the camp. Hiccup was safe with two dragons who would rather die than let anything happen to him, but he needed to eat and she needed to tell him what she heard.


	5. Let's plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So we have about a week before they blow our cover,” Hiccup chuckled, patting Toothless’ head as the dragon let out an annoyed snort.

By the time Storm got back to the camp Hiccup was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. She put away her dragon skin then went to sit down by Shadow who was obviously asleep as he didn’t get up to look her over. Hiccup looked better after the nap, the color, which they didn’t notice was gone, was back on his face. She waited until he was completely awake before speaking, otherwise it all would go over his head, but surprisingly he started talking first.

“You got that look on your face, what’s up?” He said fixing his prosthetic on his leg, his voice betraying that he wasn’t fully awake, yet ready to listen. She forgot what she wanted to say for a second.

“What look?” she exclaimed instead.

“The same look you had when you hunted me down to tell me that you saw Dagur and Mala kiss at the feast.” He deadpanned, Storm crossed her arms and pouted, mumbling something along the lines of ‘You would’ve done the same.’

“While you were sleeping I went back to the village and behold your group of teens were in the plaza, and they weren’t teens anymore! My guess is that they’re part of the Berk guard now, because they were talking about patrols and surveying missions, and we got very lucky Chief, because they’re surveying the skies for dragons, at night at least and-“

“If they’re surveying the night sky why haven’t they come for us!?”

“Let me finish! Snotlout got sloppy and thought that one night of beauty sleep won’t hurt so he missed us landing yesterday,” at that he let out a relieved breath, hiding on a hostile island is one thing, hiding while they’re trying to find you? A hundred times more difficult. “And they talked about some kind of meeting next week, we have to figure out at least where it’ll be and when. It doesn’t really matter what the meeting’s about someone is bound to ask about the threat, especially if they made no progress.”

After listening to everything she had to say, Hiccup silently tried to figure out the best plan that didn’t get them caught and interrogated. Storm waited patiently, knowing that he needed time to figure everything out, she started walking around the camp getting more of their rations for both of them. They would need to start fishing or hunting tonight, both preferred fresh food rather than dried up meat and stale bread, but it would have to do for now. She had sat down and handed Hiccup his food when he started talking.

“There’s nothing more we can do besides staying and listening around, so we go back to the village just after the sun sets, we split up this time, you taking the hiding stop next to the Meade hall and where you were near the plaza, and I’ll try to get close to the academy and walk around the village a bit. We should hopefully gather some more intel this way, especially in the teens are doing patrol, they need to meet up somewhere to go over paths and action plans, my bet is they’re either doing it at the academy or plaza, so we got that covered.”

Storm nodded and continued to eat, having him walk around the village was a bit risky, but it would be as risky if not more risky for her. They both had metal legs and one reckless step could draw attention, but Hiccup knew that island and village better so he had an advantage. Still she was worried that being in the village and walking around it, or the academy, would make some bad memories surface for him, and Hiccup tended to freeze if it became too much for him. Storm trusted Hiccup with her life and she had to trust him with this too, but she couldn’t help but worry.

“We won’t be able to fly these two if they’re watching the night sky,” She added, gesturing to their dragons. Without flying dragons get irritated and cranky, they basically become like toddlers throwing tantrums, while gliding helps a little, dragons, especially those two, can’t go a week without proper flying. Flying helps them get rid of excess energy also dragons just _really_ love flying, and a dragon who hadn’t flown in a long time gets reckless, less attentive. 

“So we have about a week before they blow our cover,” Hiccup chuckled, patting Toothless’ head as the dragon let out an annoyed snort. Storm let out a huff and slumped against Shadow, the exhaustion finally setting in, they were used to running on little sleep, the nap she had on Shadow helped, but an hour of sleep helped her out only half the day if she had stuff to do.

Now having free time all she wanted to do was sleep, it was a good thing Hiccup had already woken up when she returned or she would’ve probably fallen asleep leaving them without any alert guards. The dragons would hear someone approaching sure, but the chance that they would wake the riders too late, was too great. They knew that there had to be one of the alert at all times, overconfidence in their dragons could kill them for the simple fact that they are used to them and their expressions. Having been living with dragons for years made them overlook certain warnings that the dragons made, especially while sleeping or having had just woken up. Having one of them awake could give the other the needed time to wake and arm themselves if needed.

She was ready to just close her eyes and sleep, but Hiccup shoved the jar with salve into her field of view. Storm smiled, knowing that taking care of her leg, or lack of leg, was important, just as she had said to Hiccup earlier. While she was dealing with her limb, Hiccup started to walk around the camp just as she started to fall asleep, cuddled up to her skrill.

Having nothing better to do and feeling energized after sleeping for a few hours, Hiccup started exercising. Doing push-ups, jumping-jacks and other work outs had become easier after years of doing them. Thinking about how bad he was at exercising at fifteen made him cringe, having had given the time and energy to actually get stronger made him more confident, and he could only think about what it could have done to his self-esteem when he was still the village pariah. Having seen Hiccup do this hundreds of times, Toothless sneaked over to him and plopped his head onto Hiccups back as he was doing push-ups, effectively pinning him to the ground with a grunt.

Spending time with Toothless while Storm slept sounded good to him, Hiccup thought about going to the cove to catch some fish for dinner. Eating dried and stale food more than a few times in a row got old quickly. ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘I’ll do that.’


	6. Finally, information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup collided with someone, bringing both roughly to the ground. He held in a yelp as they went down.

Hiccup spent his time alone with Toothless. Playing, exercising and just having a good time. As the evening rolled around he decided to get some fresh fish for their dinner, so a trip to the cove was necessary. Well no really a trip as the cove was spitting distance from their camp, but Toothless would appreciate the glide none the less.

Having looked around and listened for any approaching Vikings, the pair glided to their destination when they made sure no one was near. The cove really hadn’t changed at all, apart from what seemed to be a designated fire spot. ‘So people had been here, more than once,’ Hiccup thought, at least no one was here recently as the fire spot looked about a month old. He turned around in the cove, taking in every little detail, happy memories filled him making him smile.

When he stopped reminiscing, he started fishing, with Toothless’ help of course. They managed to get a good pile of fish, as the pond in the cove was brimming with them, Hiccup helped his dragon to scoop all, except two big fish, into his mouth. The ones he took from the pile were for him and Storm, as fish tasted better without dragon slobber on them in his opinion. He glanced at the sky and saw that the sun started it’s decent into the ocean, they would have to leave the camp in about an hour so getting the fish to the camp was his priority.

As they landed and Toothless let the fish drop from his jaws, Shadow sprang up and made Storm roughly roll away from him. She lifted her head from the ground with a glare directed at the skrill and, still sleep dazed, mumbled out ‘Shadow, the fuck was that?’ Hiccup chuckled as the dragon let out a regretful purr as an apology, but still went to the fish that Toothless was already devouring. With a grunt Storm pushed herself off of the ground looking around for her prosthetic but she found Hiccup putting two fish on their bags and going a bit deeper into the wood for fire wood.

By the time he got back with the wood the dragons were playing around the camp and Storm had skewered the fish and was waiting for him. He dropped the wood into a neat pile and asked Toothless to light it, which he did with a small plasma blast. As the riders cooked and ate the fish, they watched their dragons play, it helped fill the comfortable silence from the humans. It was almost completely dark once they finished eating and put out the fire, they went about getting ready, both foregoing their helmets as they would be cloaked the whole time in the village.

After telling their dragons to stay, they made their way out of the woods just after the sun disappeared. They split up at the end of the woods, Hiccup going to the academy and Storm directly to her hiding place near the plaza where she would stay for the next couple of hours before making her way behind the statue next to the Meade hall.

Hiccup’s task was more dangerous by comparison. The only safe way to the academy was made of stones and the clicking prosthetic would alert anyone that came too close. With that in mind he carefully and quickly made his way to the academy, it seemed he got there just in time. As he had thought the group of young adults, it didn’t feel right calling them teens, were there standing in a circle and it looked like Fishlegs and Snoutlout were arguing.

Not making any noise Hiccup made his way to the platform overlooking the academy’s arena, it was the place Gobber used to stand at Dragon training. That brought up memories for him, but he pushed those aside, he couldn’t afford to miss even the littlest detail of the conversation the group was having. But the fact that, if he wasn’t under the changewing skin, the image he and the group made would parallel the one when they were teens didn’t escape him.

“I just don’t see the point! No dragons come here more than once a month! It’s pointless!” Snotlout was shouting, but what was interesting to Hiccup was that Fishlegs was shouting back, it looked like he had grown more confident since Hiccup left.

“It’s not pointless! Because of your _stupidity_ we don’t know if any dragons came and if we don’t have dragons - if we miss any dragons we miss the opportunity to get help!”

“Well _Fishlegs,_ what would we do if we got a dragon? We don’t even know where to find the Demons! They probably won’t even help us! And having one dragon would be much of a defense!”

“Enough!” Astrid yelled, finally having lost her patience with their bickering, “If you think this is all so pointless Snot, then by all means, tell us your plan how we could help Berk.” She sneered at him and he visibly deflated, clearly not having thought that far, she saw that too. “You don’t have a better plan, do you? Well until you do, you follow this plan, we need to make progress, the meeting was moved to tomorrow, Chief has news. And we need to have some good news too!”

“Sorry to break it to you Astrid, but it’s unlikely we’ll see a dragon tonight,” it was Ruffnut who decided to chip in this time, but she was right and Hiccup knew that, it seemed like Astrid did too, because she turned away from Snotlout and stared at the ground, a defeated look in her eyes.

“We still have to try,” she said, and for a moment Hiccup felt sad. Astrid was never someone who admitted defeat, at least the Astrid he remembered. It looked like while they were still mostly the same, some small things in them had changed, and he decided there and then that he would help Berk, anyway he could. It wasn’t only him that was effected by her words, as the rest of the group all agreed to go keep watch without further complain.

Hiccup watched them leave, he didn’t see a reason to follow any of them, he needed to find out where the meeting would take place. There weren’t many places in Berk that that kind of meeting could take place, but he wanted confirmation. He knew that the meeting could take place in either the academy, the Meade hall or the plaza, but he and Storm needed to be there when it began. Astrid said that Stoick has some news and they needed to hear them, they could spread out and find the meeting tomorrow but they both needed to be there. And they needed to know when the meeting was taking place.

He left his place when he was sure the others were far away. He quietly made his way deeper into the village, he spared a minute at the forge, every fiber of his being wanting to go inside, but he knew that was a terrible idea. He kept walking, looking around trying to spot any villagers. He was slowly walking for a few minutes when he saw two vikings walking towards the plaza from the Meade hall. He quickly made his way to the side of the pathway, stepping onto grass he silently jogged forward a little so he could finally hear what the two were talking about, hoping that there would be something useful in the conversation.

“Tomorrow Mulch?”

“Yes tomorrow Bucket, exactly at noon, we can’t be late, everyone will be attending,” said the shorter of the two, Hiccup remembered them, Bucket and Mulch who hadn’t ever treated him badly, even when he was the village pariah. This was exactly what Hiccup was hoping for, Bucket always needed to be reminded of things because of his head injury, that meant that Mulch had to keep reminding him stuff. He needed to get closer so he wouldn’t miss anything. With determined strides across the grass he made his way closer to the pair, he saw a place between two houses that was perfect for this. The pair of vikings were standing still as Mulch was again saying that they needed to be at the noon meeting when Hiccup collided with someone, bringing both roughly to the ground. He held in a yelp as they went down, the place was empty when he saw it, so the only explanation was Storm who was camouflaged into the surroundings, also listening to the vikings.

Fear overwhelmed him as he heard the unmistakable metallic clank of one of their prosthetics meeting rock. He felt Storm also stiffen where she had fallen on top of him, he quickly raised his head, thankfully still under the cloak, and saw his prosthetic out in the open, he dragged it under the cloak accidently kneeing Storm in the stomach. Just their luck, the moment they were getting far with their mission something ruins it!

“Did you hear that?” asked Mulch and the riders held their breath, praying they wouldn’t be found out for something this stupid.

“I probably banged my bucket again! But I saw something disappear between those houses, oh I probably spooked a mouse Mulch, I should go see if it’s alright.” Hiccup saw Bucket point in their direction, his eyes widened and he silently prayed to which ever God was listening that Bucket wouldn’t come to them to try and comfort the ‘mouse’ that was Hiccup’s prosthetic.

“No Bucket, it’s already long gone. Now remember tomorrow at noon, at the Meade hall.”

The two vikings then continued onward, unknowably leaving the riders alone. The pair both listened until they couldn’t hear them anymore and Hiccup felt Storm get up. After examining their surroundings Storm peaked her head out of the cloak, he did the same and when she gestured with her head to the forest he nodded. They had to come up with a plan and they had to do it fast. They must be at the Meade hall when the meeting stared and they needed to do it while it was still dark.


	7. Meetings part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the boring wait they ironed out the missing pieces from their plan.

The riders didn’t go far into the woods, just far enough to not be seen without their changewing skins on. They were crouched behind some bushes where they could talk without anyone seeing or hearing them. In the relative silence they could hear one another clearly, keeping their voices low they started with the information they had. The meeting will take place in the Meade hall and there weren’t any places to hide on ground level, going to the meeting in disguise crossed their minds. Although disguising themselves wasn’t a good plan. One, no outsiders would be let in during the meeting and two, it would raise suspicion as it wasn’t the time of year for the island to get visitors and no boats have come close to the island in a while.

The best course of action would be hiding in the hall, and Hiccup knew just where to hide, the support beams that went both vertically and horizontally across the structure. Getting up there wouldn’t be a problem for the pair, both because they had experience and Storm had daggers that would help them climb up without a problem. As far as Hiccup remembered the hall’s horizontal beams weren’t too high up so hearing everything wouldn’t be a problem, especially since the chief had to practically shout so everyone could hear what he said. Only one question didn’t leave Hiccup’s mind, a question he didn’t have a good answer to.

“How do we get in?” he asked Storm, waiting for her answer, hoping she at least had an idea. She thought for a moment, taping her fingers on her chin. Then her face lit up and he knew she had thought of something that was going to work, the look that was on her face only showed up when she had a great plan. The look didn’t disappoint.

“We sneak in tonight, you remember when the other day your father and his friend exited the hall, right? That means that when they exited there couldn’t have been a lot of people inside, or at least a lot of sober people. If we wait tonight for them to go out, we have a chance to be in the Meade hall alone which would give us time to scale up the beams and find a good place to settle.”

“And if there _are_ people inside?” he asked, he already liked her plan, but they needed to be prepared for every possible outcome.

“We go in cloaked,” she said confidently. ”If there are any people inside at that hour, they’ll be drunk, and _probably_ blame the doors opening on the wind and the last person not closing them properly. The hall has to clear out eventually and if it doesn’t, we’ll be inside the hall at least. We’d have to spend hours under the skins if we can’t get up on the beams, which would suck, but we’ll be at the meeting at least.”

Hiccup nodded, it wasn’t a bad plan, it was the best plan they could come up with, so it would have to do. They still had a few hours to waste, and wandering around the village would be stupid when they had what they came for. They agreed that the best they could do now is to get back to their hiding place from the first night and wait out the chief.

During the boring wait they ironed out the missing pieces from their plan. They would leave with the other people after the meeting and head straight to the woods. If they separated while leaving they would meet up at the camp and most importantly, they couldn’t show themselves at the meeting, no matter what would happen, they needed to go over everything they would find out together and plan, _again._

Finally the Hooligan Chief left the hall, he was alone tonight so he went straight to his home. The pair acted immediately, cloaking themselves fully and leaving their hiding spot for the entrance. Both listened for any coming vikings from the Meade hall, not having heard anything Storm carefully and slowly opened the door a crack and leaned her head inside to survey the inside of the building. The inside was vacant as far as she saw, she opened the door more and tapped Hiccup on his arm, he was surveying the outside, to signal that the coast was clear.

They made their way into the hall silently, looking for anybody as more of the inside came to view. Once they saw that it was completely deserted they jogged to one of the support beams, Hiccup took off his changewing skin, while Storm only partially uncovered herself and pulled out two of her daggers that she handed to him. Hiccup stuck one of the daggers into the wooden pole, then the other and started climbing, it didn’t take him long to reach the horizontal one which he pushed himself on. He took the daggers and pocketed them, then he partially covered himself with his cloak, which he previously had attached to his side, in case someone entered the building.

Storm was almost all the way up, when a clearly drunk viking stumbled out of one of the storage closets. She froze mid climb, fortunately she was behind the pole and out of the viking’s sight and Hiccup quickly covered himself fully and froze too. They didn’t make any noise, not wanting the inebriated viking to notice them, especially Storm, even drunk he could come to check out any noise and find a floating head and limbs and considering that in her position she couldn't fully hide, drunken hallucinations wouldn’t explain that.

Luck was on their side it seemed, because the viking just headed straight to the exit, well not _straight_ to the exit, more like he zig-zaged to the exit. Still, the viking was gone, and Storm quickly finished climbing and pushed herself on next to Hiccup and put her daggers back into place, one in her glove, the other had a place build into her prosthetic. Once she had everything where it should be, they moved to be directly next to where the chief gave his speeches. And they waited, _again._

They talked a little while waiting, mostly about how they would not leave the sky for at least a day when this was all over. Any conversation they had had to stop, because soon the hall was filling with vikings ready for breakfast and after that there was always someone coming or going from the building. They didn’t chance talking when there were people around, they didn’t need anyone being suspicious.

Finally, after hours of waiting the Meade hall started filling up with people who were waiting for their chief. The riders were sitting next to each other, legs touching together so they would know when it was time to leave that the other had moved. They were still fully cloaked and it was not pleasant after the time they’ve spent under it. Storm was looking forward to when the tribe would have their full attention on their chief so she could uncover her head.

The people in the hall hushed when their chief entered and cleared the path to the platform for him. For the lack on a better word, Stoick looked tired. Dark bags under his eyes, the eyes themselves betraying wariness and exhaustion and yet, he still held his head high and walked with confidence, not betraying anything to those who weren’t looking. The pair on the beams _were_ looking and seeing things they didn’t like. The exhaustion was expected, but the wariness and suspicion deep in his eyes was cause for concern.

When Stoick reached the platform he let out a deep sigh and turned to his people, his eyes were now clear and determined, his posture radiated confidence and he demanded respect just by standing there.

“You’re all probably wondering why I called you here!” all attention was on him, the riders freed their heads from the cloaks so they could hear everything more clearly. “This won’t take long, but I do have news that concern the whole village and tribe. You all know that Berk is facing a threat bigger than ever before, which is no secret.” The hall was filled with agreeing murmurs, but no one interrupted their chief.

“We’re trying to find a help, because we can’t face this on our own, and we’ve got someone who is willing to risk his life to get us information, he owes a life debt to me and by extension the tribe! His family take those debts seriously and they do everything they can to repay them, so I have no doubt that he will give us useful information, but we can’t be sure he won’t betray us! We don’t know what leverage our enemy has against him. All I ask of you is that you let him come to the village, but keep an eye on him and report any suspicious behavior to me!” the people in the hall were shouting over one another, but the general idea was well received and soon all shouts were of agreement.

“He is coming tomorrow,” he continued, satisfaction lasing his tone. “He will be here sometime after the sun has set and I would want you all to be here so that you could hear and judge for yourselves if he is trust worthy, but that won’t be possible. You will choose one family member to come into the Meade hall during tomorrow’s meeting, the rest will be required to stand guard around the village, we can’t let ourselves be ambushed. Now you’re dismissed, except the war council and dragon scouts.”

This put a damper on the riders’ plan to leave with everyone else, they looked at each other, and with the commotion of everyone leaving they moved deeper into the shadows and as close to the platform as possible. While one of them sneaking out later would be safer, they both needed to be there for the simple reason that they saw most things from different perspectives. One of them might overlook something that the other might find great information in. They would find a way out, which was not going to be a problem for them no matter how hard it’ll be, they won’t fail when everything is _this_ close to being unraveled.


	8. Meetings part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stoick nodded leaning on the table that was on the platform, his face showed understanding, like this had happened before, and it probably had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry.

The Meade hall was almost empty by the time only the war council and dragon scouts were left. The war council consisted of Stoick, the chief, Spitelout, the second in command, the commander of the Berk guard, Gobber, probably because he supplied the weapons and others who were in charge of various things that would be affected by war, like the fleet, food supply and others. The dragon scouts were, to no surprise, the young adults – or as Hiccup decided to call them – the gang: Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout. The silence that had befallen the hall was interrupted by Stoick.

“So, how’s everything on your side of things?” he asked looking at both groups, it was Gobber that answered him.

“The weaponry is comin’ out great, the new ones are almost finished and then I’ll move to resharpenin’ the old ones,” he said and the shrugged, not having anything else to say. The others in the war council followed, telling their chief the situation everything was in. The riders were pleasantly surprised that Berk seemed to be doing well, Drago hadn’t tried to cut off the food supply or launch any attacks on the island it seemed. That was a little suspicious, but it could very well be that Drago didn’t consider Berk to be a threat.

After the war council was finished giving their reports, Stoick turned to the gang and gestured for them to speak. They shared a look between them, not knowing how to tell him that they had no good news.

“Nothing new from us chief,” said Astrid, sadly shaking her head. “After the nadder escaped, there were no sightings at night and the search was supposed to leave tomorrow, but with the spy coming it’ll have to be pushed a day later.”

Stoick nodded leaning on the table that was on the platform, his face showed understanding, like this had happened before, and it probably had. Dragons rarely came to Berk anymore, the riders knew the reason – the dragons didn’t feel save, at least they hadn’t five years ago – but the Hooligan tribe didn’t know that.

“We have to keep trying,” Stoick reassured them. “The spy, Eret, in his letter, he said that he has information on the Dragon demons. Said that a small ship had an encounter with one not long ago and that he’ll bring more information with him.” Hiccup’s eyes widened and he felt Storm gently nudge him to get his attention, he turned to her and found that she had the same expression on her face. Dragon demons, as uncreative as the name was, it was what numerous dragon hunters had called them in the past.

For some reason the Hooligans wanted information on them and they were trying to capture dragons. It made a sliver of sense, if Berk had a dragon they could _try_ to find one of them, but why? To threaten them? To try to take them to Drago? Or maybe… to ask for _help_?

“When he comes I want all of you to be here, we’ll need to get every little bit of information from him. You all think differently, so you’ll ask different questions and that’s what we need. Meeting over.” After being dismissed everyone cleared out of the building and the riders took their chance to leave. After the last person left they dropped from the support beam, their metal legs made a clicking sound that echoed in the hall. Without missing a beat they fully cloaked themselves and ran out the building as quietly as they could. Thankfully the doors were left open by the last person, so the riders had no problem leaving and making their way back to their camp.

A familiar sight greeted them back at the camp, their dragons happily bouncing towards them. The dragons were already restless only after a few days on the ground, it was evident by the way Shadow didn’t even sniff at Storm once and Toothless ran circles around Hiccup. Almost unanimously the riders looked at each other with similar smirks on their faces, the decision was clear. They spend time with their family first, then they’ll decide what to do about Berk.

The rest of their free time was spent with their dragons, they played, went fishing, and took a few cat naps in between. The pair sat down after their second meal of the day, their camp fire was still going and their dragons were once again playing together.

“So Chief, what’s the plan this time?” Storm asked while leaning back on her hands.

“Well, the first part’s easy,” he said, giving her a shrug. “We sneak in the same as before and we listen what their spy says. But they have been looking for us, so I have this idea, regardless of what their spy says.”

“Oh? Do share,” intrigue laced her tone. Hiccup leaned closer to her, eyes full of mischief as he playfully pointed a finger at her.

“How do you feel about doing something dramatic?” he asked, the look in Storm’s eyes betraying her answer. She smirked, cocking her head to the side. ‘Bring it on’ her expression said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every chapter I post, I post at like 4 a.m. Any mistakes I make I apologise for. Comments make my day, even though I don't know how to reply to them, so I don't, but I am thankful that someone took the time to write it.  
> Thank you and I hope you're enjoying the story so far.


	9. Meetings part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair upon the rafters looked at one another, Storm tilting her head in question, Hiccup shook his head. Not yet then.

A small boat with a lone passenger reached Berk two hours after sunset. The passenger went by the name of Eret, the one who owed the life debt to Berk’s chief. The whole village was at the docks to great him, it made an imposing image for the one leaving the boat. But while everyone was busy trying to intimidate, they forgot to stay vigilant and nobody noticed the two figures blatantly sneaking into the Meade hall.

After making sure that Eret came alone the tribe split, a smaller group of people made their way to the hall while other stationed themselves around the village or made their way to the look-out towers. Berk’s chief entered the Meade hall first, it was vacant to their eyes, nobody noticed the two figures crouched in the shadows, on the support beams once again. They would have noticed if they bothered to look as the pair weren’t cloaked this time, their plan was to be seen when the time was right.

When all the people filled the hall, Eret was left in front of the chief, he had his hand clasped together, clearly nervous to stand alone in front of people who could turn hostile in seconds. The chief stood in front of the crowd, motioning for them to be quiet. Stoick’s stance was confident, drawing all attention to him.

“Attention!” he bellowed. “This man standing in front of me has promised us information that is valuable to our survival as a repayment for a life debt. We will hear him out first, then you’ll be able to ask any relevant questions. Understood?” a chorus of ‘aye’ was heard and finally the attention was back on Eret again.

“I am Eret son of Eret and I bring nothing but the truth. Drago Bludvist is a threat to your island, I don’t know why he targeted you, only he does and he hasn’t told his followers why and those who asked either ended up tortured for speaking out of line, or dead. From what I gathered he decided that your island isn’t a threat but he will still attack in two months time –“

“Why!?” shouted someone from the crowd, Stoick glared in the direction the shout came from, having clearly said that they would let Eret tell them everything first and question him later. Although he did want to know as well, if Berk was not a threat to Drago, why still attack it? He looked at Eret and nodded, a sign that he could continue talking.

“I was getting to that,” he mumbled, annoyance entering his tone. “He gave a completely self-centered monologue explaining the reason when one of us asked the same question. He said that although you’re not a threat, he will still destroy you because you have, according to him, a _small_ chance to become a threat, as for why he is waiting, he said that he wants you to suffer, he wants you to live in fear not knowing if he’ll strike sooner or later, he wants you to expect his attack and try to fight back and to fail. He said he wants to see you beg for your lives. He says he has a secret weapon for wiping you out and a secret that will cripple you from the inside, I asked around as much as I could without it becoming suspicious and as far as I know, no one but Drago knows what he’s talking about.”

Chatter filled the hall again. Cripple Berk from the inside? The village had no such powerful secrets that could do that, that they knew of that was. Stoick was thinking about that also, when he remembered the other reason they let Eret on their island.

“What information you have about the Dragon demons then?” He asked, giving Eret his full attention once again. 

“Ah, yes, them. The last encounter I’ve heard of was about two weeks ago, when a small ship was sent to spy on your island, but they didn’t reach your island, they were intercepted by one of them. From what the crew told me, the demon wordlessly threatened them until they gave up information on why the ship was there. After that the demon partially destroyed their ship, in a way that slowed the ship down yet didn’t endanger any of the crew. Earlier encounters, like this one, were never expected or prepared for, no matter how hard we’ve tried. The crew saw the dragon fly south, that’s the best I can give you.”

The building was silent, people were either processing the information or thinking what questions they could ask the man. The pair upon the rafters looked at one another, Storm tilting her head in question, Hiccup shook his head. Not yet then.

Both wore helmets more or less corresponding with what dragon each rode. Storm’s helmet was adorned with spikes that went atop her head like a crown, mimicking the spikes on a skrill’s head, the helmet was also reinforced with Shadow’s scales so it was the same color as the dragon. Hiccup’s helmet had the same idea, it was sleek, had small spikes going on the sides and the top of the helmet and was reinforced with Toothless’ scales.

“What dragon was seen?” unsurprisingly it was Fishlegs that asked the question.

“At the latest encounter? More than half say it was a skrill, the others said that the person just materialized on the ship, so - umm – we’re going with skrill this time.”

“This time?”

“Person!?”

“The Dragon demons had been spotted with different dragons at different times, the dragon hunters and even Drago aren’t sure how many of them exist, but the general believe is that there’s no less than two consistent ones who Drago hates the most. As for them being people, that is a fact.”

“How is that a fact? How can you be so sure?” Astrid skeptically asked.

“Well, while never properly prepared the dragon hunters have made damage,” Eret stated. “And I don’t believe that demons bleed.”

“Bleed? You’ve killed one of them?” came from somewhere in the crowd. The people in the hall were in various stages of shock, tales of the Dragon demons doing unexplainable things were told all around the archipelago.

“We haven’t, thankfully, if we had the Gods themselves would have ended us. They are human, but they have strength and brains gifted by the Gods. I’m going to tell you a story no one has heard before.” His tone was somber, full of dread, like he was scared to tell them anything. He shuffled closer to the center platform and half turned to the crowd he previously had his back to.

“Let me start this by saying, I was the only one that survived this run in and it happened about two years ago. To this day I don’t know why I survived. The hunters had a large shipment of dragons on the way to Drago when they intercepted us. We fought, but they managed to free the dragons, all of them, and I thought we were going to get by without any casualties, but a few of my men got cocky and reckless. They shot arrows at the retreating forms, I yelled at them to stop shooting, to leave them alone. They didn’t listen. Two arrows hit targets, one hit a skrill, the other hit it’s rider. They went down, the dragon not expecting an arrow to it’s side, and the ride had an arrow straight in their shoulder.” He took a deep breath and continued.

“As they went down my men rushed them, I was still telling them to stop because I knew a losing battle when I saw one. I knew that the downed pair wouldn’t go unnoticed and it wouldn’t matter that we had killed one of the demons if the other came with hundreds of dragons to wipe us out. But I was wrong in thinking that the pair would wait to be avenged, especially the rider.” The hall was completely quiet, everyone was engrossed in the story, even the pair on the rafters wanted to hear how the story went for the other side of the battle.

“I will never forget the persons eyes filled with rage and hatred, then and there I chose the cowards way out, dropped to my knees and prepared to beg for a quick death, but I knew I had no choice in the matter when the rider tore the arrow from their shoulder, took their bow and shot the arrow in between the eyes of the one who shot it, in a matter of second he was dead and the others soon followed. The rider had a sword on hand, the first few fell from its blows, the others followed, killed by their own weapons. The battle lasted less than five minutes, eighteen stupid men dead. I was still kneeling when the rider advanced, their bloody sword limp in their hands, their metal leg made a sound I thought would be the last thing I heard. They stopped in front of me, looked straight into my eyes and uttered one word: ‘Smart’. Then they were both gone, carried to complete safety by the dragons they had rescued.”

The people were in shock, nobody knew what to say. A quiet clanking sounded through the building, the place that Eret was standing in the beginning filled with green gas. Gasps echoed in the hall, everyone was looking around trying to figure out where it came from. Suddenly the gas exploded, revealing two ominous figures standing in its place side by side. When they spoke, they spoke perfectly together, their voices merging and becoming undistinguishable from one another.

“We heard you were looking for us.”


	10. Starting deals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’ve heard stories, have you? Then you know we’re not stupid. Now the truth, please.”

The Meade hall was completely silent, nobody understood where those figures came from. To the people’s eyes the figures emerged from a cloud of gas that appeared out of nowhere. The pair was standing confidently before the chief and his council, their stance demanded respect and no one knew what to do.

“Who are you?” Stoick asked, his voice apprehensive. 

“Oh come on, you’ve just heard a story about us – “

“ – and who else have you been _conspiring_ to find? –“

“ – or are we not your only targets?” The pair spoke together again, continuing where the other stopped. Astrid and Fishlegs gasped simultaneously finally understanding who stood before them.

“Dragon demons,” Astrid whispered out, unconsciously covering her mouth with her palm.

The whisper rang through the silent hall and with it the people came to life, whispering among one another, shouting out questions and threats. Everyone could see why they were referred to as demons, the clothes they wore were helping in the image. Their helmets were modeled after dragons, their armor was worn and the shorter figure had metal spikes and metal parts in the armor, while the taller figure had sleek, well fitted armor. Their armor was clearly complicated and well made. 

“Congratulations, you’ve figured it out,” said the taller one then gestured to the shorter one. “My sister and I want to know why you are so desperate to get information about us.”

“So, why don’t you tell us? After all, information is best straight from the source, not from stories.” The girl said. Seeing the hesitation in the people she let out a humorous chuckle. “Come on, tell us the truth. If you mean no harm, we won’t mean harm either.”

Silence had followed her statement as everyone was still in shock at their arrival, and the simple fact that they spoke. After minutes of silence she quietly huffed and looked at her companion who gave her a small nod. At the signal she started judging the people on the platform, she stopped at Fishlegs and stared at him.

“You.” She stated, Fishlegs pointed a finger at himself, confused, she nodded. “Yes, you. Strat talking.”

“Well, um, you see…” he started anxiously looking at his friends, who were not in any better state. “We j-just wanted to see if you were real – haha – we had heard many stories and wa-wanted to see for ourselves, ye-yeah.”

Hiccup and Storm looked at each other, communicating without even as much as a sound. Storm turned to Fishlegs again, her pose completely relaxed, her arm lazily resting on her hip.

“You’ve heard stories, have you? Then you know we’re not stupid. Now the truth, _please._ ”

“We want your help,” Stoik cut in, finally tearing his eyes off of the frightened Eret, who stood frozen at the side. If what the man said was true, it was no use trying to lie and anger the ‘demons’. The woman turned to her companion tilting her head to the side, they both chuckled and turned to Stoick simultaneously.

“Ok, how could we help?” the man asked. Stoick stiffened, not expecting them to agree, he turned his head to the left and saw similar expressions on the dragon scout’s faces. His eyes caught Astrid’s, he gestured for her to talk as she was the one responsible for dragon related business on the island.

“We want you to help us train dragons,” she confidently stated, pushing the shock down, not wanting the pair to see the effect they had on her.

“For what purpose?” the man asked again.

“Defense,” Astrid answered, now completely at ease seeing that the pair were genuinely interested in their answers.

“We’ll think about it – “ the woman started.

“ – in the meantime, think of a plan to propose to us – “ the man continued.

“ – we’ll be back tomorrow at noon, and we’ll be expecting more than a request to train dragons, - “

“ – you’ll tell us _why_ you want dragons, more than one word answers. Defense from what, and why dragons? – “ 

“ – You’ll answer those questions, and more we will have – “

“ – then we’ll decide if you deserve our help – “

“ – do not lie to us, we’ll find out – “

“ _Goodbye”_ they ended together, their voices merging to one again. They turned and walked out the hall, not looking anywhere but forward, opening and closing the hall’s doors perfectly in sync. They disappeared and the building filled with noise, people trying to be heard. Nobody thought to follow the pair outside.

“Silence! One question at a time!” Stoick exclaimed, that was a lot to take in for all of them. They finally did it, they had a chance for help, all they needed was to be truthful. The problem was that they really didn’t have more of a plan than to ask for help and hope for the best, now they had until noon to put everything into place and hope that the ‘Dragon demons’ decided to help them.

“Will we accept their help?!”

“Yes, we will. We have been trying to reach them for a month, we won’t let this chance go.” He answered honestly.

“What if they ask for something in return?!”

“We’ll try to meet their demands the best we can, if they ask for too much we’ll decline. My priority is the village and tribe, like it always was and will be.”

“Can we trust them?!”

“I… don’t know,” he answered. “As far as we know, we have a common enemy and they’re the best help we can get. We won’t let our guard down and I won’t put my people at risk.”

The people were content with his answers and all were left was whispers among one another. Stoick dismissed everyone except his council and the Dragon scouts. They needed to have a plan tomorrow and they needed it to be good.

Meanwhile the ‘Dragon demons’ made their way back to their camp. Berk’s chief just confirmed their suspicions that the Hooligans wanted to find them for help. They said they would hear them out fully at noon, so they had time to sleep and fly. The people would be too preoccupied with what happened to watch the sky tonight and their dragons were starting to become irritated.

They reached their camp, wasted no time and got on their dragons. They were in the air in seconds. The pair stayed silent for a long time just enjoying the freedom that came with flying, but after a while they touched down on some sea stacks with Berk in the horizon. The dragons caught some fish and the riders took a couple for their meal, they sat around a camp fire cooking their meal.

“So they want dragons for defense. What do they think is going to change?” Storm asked.

“I and Toothless did defeat the Red Death, maybe they think dragons will help them against Drago?”

“So you think we should humor them and help them train dragons, just like that?”

“Of course not, we can’t just get them dragons ‘just like that’.” Hiccup rolled his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about this and honestly they might be onto something and they might not even know it. Drago might just send some people to finish off Berk and Berk having dragons would save them. You’ve heard the hunter, Drago doesn’t think Berk’s a real threat and Drago thinks he’s too important to give a fuck about small threats when a good attack can take them out.”

“You’re right, and if the dragons wouldn’t work for defense, they would work for a distraction and be enough for Berk’s people to flee to safety.” Storm concluded. “Fine, we’ll help them. But I need to ask you one thing. Do you want to help them because they actually need help, or do you want to help them because they’re your tribe, your friends and your father?”

“I… I’m not sure,” he sighed. “A little bit of both, I think. As much as I want to say that I’ve forgotten them, I haven’t and as you said they’re still my tribe and I feel like I have to help them. I honeslty don’t understand myself!”

Hiccup felt confused and hopeless and it showed on his face. Storm placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a hug, he almost started to cry. Being alone for basically fifteen years, losing a limb and falling out with his father was what he had to go through to get to this moment. To get a family that cared for him and supported him, it was almost too much for him at that moment as he faced the people who didn’t give a shit about him when he was younger.

“It’s okay Hiccup. We’ll help them. I want you to understand one more thing, you haven’t forgotten them and what they did to you, but you have forgiven them. And that’s okay, because you’re a compassionate, understanding and forgiving person and I’ll support you in this. You’re my brother in everything but blood. We’re family, no matter what other people say.”

He nodded, lifting his head from her shoulder he came face to face with Toothless, who saw his friend’s distress. Hiccup gave a weak smile and put a hand on Toothless’ snout. The dragon gave a sad grunt, Hiccup assured him he was okay and Toothless took this as a sigh to start attacking his rider with his toungue.

Hiccup laughed wholeheartedly at his dragon’s shenanigans, and the other two joined them in playing their time away, Berk and it’s problems momentarily forgotten. They knew that at noon they would start helping Berk, they knew that they won’t have enough time to unwind and just be happy for a while. So they took the time to do that now. They acted like children they hadn’t had the time to be.


	11. Shall we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tribe would’ve agreed to anything short of selling their children.

The riders spent the time until noon by flying, goofing around and napping, for the most part. Sure, they sat down and talked about what their base rules for training the Hooligans will be, but they didn’t bother themselves by unnecessary anxiety because of things that hadn’t happened yet. Well they _tried_ not to worry, but their thoughts betrayed them from time to time.

Berk’s chief and his council spent the time quite differently. Staying up all night going over their simple plan trying to find any wrinkles that would make the ‘Dragon demons’ refuse to help. Stoick was desperate for the pair’s help and if they refused he knew that his tribe would have to leave the island, and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to leave the place so many people had fought for, had died for, but with a threat as big as Drago he had little choice.

Noon came and with it people came out of their homes wanting to see the, to an extent, _legendary_ pair. No one knew exactly where they were going to show up, but it was apparent that the tribe will know. Berk’s chief was hoping that they would show up in the Meade hall, away from most of the tribe, but he knew, no matter what, everyone in the village would know about the deal they, _hopefully_ , had made.

Stoick’s wishes went unheard and he heard someone yelling in the plaza, he went out and saw the pair of ‘demons’ slowly walking towards the plaza. They were walking from the academy, and for a minute Stoick thought that they were staying there, but the dragon scouts gathered there almost every night to go over everything and they would have noticed if anyone was there, right?

He thought they would make their way to the hall, but they stopped at the plaza and waited. Stoick sighed and went to the plaza himself, they had a deal to make. His council and the dragon scout were already there, waiting for him. The pair in the middle of the plaza were casually standing there, ignoring every question and threat that was thrown their way, like they belonged there.

“Hello,” Stoick said as he reached them. “Am I right to assume that we should go straight to the deal?”

The ‘demons’ nodded simultaneously, and Berk’s chief found that unbelievably creepy, especially that now, in the day light, their armor looked even more disturbing and dangerous than last night in the dark. He would have to get used to it if they worked together, but it didn’t mean he was used to it now.

“You know we want your help. We had dragons long ago, and we know they are good defenders, we want to be prepared to either fight or if it’s necessary… flee.”

“Okay, training dragons, how do you want to go about that? You said you had dragons living among you once, so you should know how to _train_ them - ” the woman said.

“Or do you want us to _bring_ you dragons for you to train?” the man asked.

Stoick blanched, they spent all night going over everything and simple wording might cost them their only hope. They wanted the ‘demons’ help, for getting dragons and keeping them on the island. If they wanted to simply _get_ dragons, they could have had the dragon hunters bring them some and bought them. But no, the tribe wanted to live with dragons and have them a part of the village, like they had seen with their eyes only once before.

“We want you to help us with whatever you can.” He said, defeated.

“Okay, but we’ll do it by our rules, not yours.” The woman said, then looked around the crowd. She smirked under her helmet and continued with an almost condescending voice. “If that’s okay with _you_ of course.”

“What are your rules?” Astrid butted in.

“They’re easy,” the man said. “First, you listen to us and don’t question our teaching methods. Second, if we don’t want to answer a question, we won’t, – “

“Third, you do not threaten us or try to fight us. Fourth, you do not follow us, _anywhere_ , or try to find us, - “

“And lastly, you _do not_ try to take off our helmets. Are we clear?” Stoick nodded, and so do did everyone who heard what they said.

“What do you want in return?” The ‘demons’ looked each other in the eyes and Hiccup knew that the tiredness he saw in Storm’s eyes was reflected in his own. They hadn’t talked about that yet, but they knew without having to talk about that. The wish was ingrained deep into their very souls.

“Peace.” They firmly said. “Peace between vikings and dragons.”

They only asked for peace and nothing more, and that didn’t bother anyone in the tribe, as they could’ve asked for anything they wanted. The tribe would’ve agreed to anything short of selling their children. They were desperate and they knew that. The pair were satisfied it seemed as they looked at each other for a moment. When the man spoke up again, his tone was cocky.

“Oh, and if you don’t abide by our rules, we will retaliate.”

“So,” the woman cheerily said clapping her hand together, “who would like to volunteer to be our trainees?”

The people were silent, scared to do something new or just scared of the pair in general. Hiccup rolled his eyes, of course, vikings were always brave in the face of danger, but they were always scared of change and new things, he could attest to that. He huffed and half turned to the academy.

“Find volunteers and send them our way, we’ll be in the academy.”

He turned fully and started walking to the academy, Storm falling into step with him. They talked last night and decided that the irony of teaching vikings how to _befriend_ dragons in the place they used to kill them was too good to miss out. They were almost at the academy when he heard Storm chuckle, he faced her, tilting his head in question.

“Talking together and finishing each other’s sentences,” she snickered. “Works every time.”

He snickered too. Everyone acted brave until they creeped them out, and they enjoyed that immensely.

Hiccup already knew who would show up as their volunteers - the gang. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins all had _some_ experience with riding dragons, so it made sense, he told Storm as such. His thoughts were proven correct when, about ten minutes after the pair reached the academy, the gang could be seen making their way to them. They were not alone of course, a group of villagers were trailing behind them, no doubt wanting to see what the ‘Dragon demons’ had in store.

As soon as the gang were close enough the pair turned to the academy gate, Hiccup pulled the lever to open it with one hand. The pair walked into the academy with the gang following. As the pair reached the middle Hiccup stopped and turned around on his prosthetic, clapping his hand together. From the creeped out expressions on their trainees’ faces he knew that Storm managed to copy his movements exactly.

‘Good, it’s still working,’ he thought.

“Welcome to dragon training!” he cheerfully mimicked the same words that Gobber uttered all those years ago. He saw both Astrid and Fishlegs flinch.

‘So they remember… interesting.’

“This will be the place where you go from ‘dragon scouts’ to ‘dragon riders’” Storm said with flourish. “Let’s begin with the basics, shall we?”


	12. Stupid interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you an idiot, Stoick?” she questioned.

The gang looked at each other confused. The basics? What did that mean?

Storm rolled her eyes. They have been doing that a lot these days. She glanced at Hiccup to see him in a similar situation, she guessed they could allow this once.

“The basics,” she said. “What do you know about dragons? Their species and specialties, favorite attacks? Where’s your dragon hunter friend? He would know a lot about dragons and could help you.”

Astrid raised her hand a little, like a little kid wanting to ask a question during a lesson, but she stopped herself. She stepped in front of her friends and looked into Storm’s eyes, at least tried to, the helmet didn’t help in that regard. Astrid cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable.

“The chief let him leave. He asked for a bit of food and went around the island and went the opposite way he came. He’s gone and I doubt he would like to be here.”

Storm face palmed and she heard Hiccup sigh.

“Where is he?” he asked.

“Why do you need to know? Huh?” asked Snotlout in a condescending tone. Storm grew irritated and her posture showed it.

“Where the fuck is your chief?” Hiccup said harshly. Snotlout flinched at his tone, having had forgotten that the pair standing in front of them was, in fact, dangerous. But of course, Snotlout was idiotic on his best days, so he was prepared to give them a piece of his mind when Storm was suddenly in front of him silencing him with a wave of her hand. He couldn’t believe it, he was Berk’s best viking, according to him alone, so how did these two foreigners think they had any power over him –

“I’m here, what seems to be the problem?” Stoick interrupted his attempt at ‘heroism’. Berk’s chief was on the platforms overlooking the academy. Storm huffed in clear irritation and turned to the chief.

“Are you an idiot, Stoick?” she questioned. Berk’s chief bristled, offended.

“What? Who do you think you are to insult me? You two are – “

“Asking a question.” Hiccup stated, cutting him off.

“We are not the ones who let a person, who works for the fucking enemy, leave, just like that. He might have own you a life debt, but he repaid it the moment he stopped talking and he never promised not to report what he saw here to Drago. He could go back and tell him to launch an attack and you could be wiped out in three weeks.” Storm stopped raging, breathing deeply. She was angry at Berk’s chief’s stupidity. They asked for help, yet they already put their plans at risk by letting an informant go.

She started grumbling under her breath, while Hiccup looked at the chief who was red with either rage or shame. Stoick was about to start shouting for his men to go find Eret, because as much as he didn’t want to admit it, the ‘demon’ was right. Eret repaid his debt and hadn’t promised anything. The male ‘demon’s’ voice stopped him.

“Don’t bother,” he said. “Which direction did he leave in?” Shocked, Stoick pointed north, the question of why they needed the direction on the tip of his tongue. The woman answered his unasked question.

“I’ll go get him,” she sighed. “You stay, find out what our trainees know about the common dragons. I’ll be back in less than an hour. Good luck Chief!” she shouted walking out of the arena and into the woods. She left the people confused, why would she wish luck to Stoick? Hiccup snorted as he noticed the confused looks on some of the people.

“Okay!” he exclaimed rubbing his hands together. “You heard the woman! Let’s get started.”

Meanwhile Storm made her way to the camp and was greeted by the two dragons. The dragons were calmer after the other night full of fun. She gave both of them some attention, after explaining to Toothless why Hiccup wasn’t with her, she sent him to the woods bordering the village, so that if Hiccup yelled for him Toothless would hear him without a problem.

She mounted Shadow, taking her helmet off for the moment, and took off north. She flew for about twenty minutes when she spotted the lone ship in the middle of the ocean. She put on her helmet before quickly approaching it. The ship’s only passenger was on the deck, looking ahead, Storm smirked and pressed herself down onto Shadow to minimize the wind resistance. She didn’t bother being quiet. She almost laughed at the startled look on Eret’s face.

“Get on,” she gestured to Shadow.

“Wh-what?” He asked, scared. Storm crossed her arms and regretted that her helmet didn’t let him see the glare she was giving him.

“We’re going back to Berk. Get on or you’re making the trip in Shadow’s claws.” Seeing him about to protest she continued, not giving him any chance to do so. ”We’re going back and that’s not negotiable.”

Eret was scared and confused. Why did she want him back at Berk? He gave them what they wanted, he repaid his debt, he gave up the life he built to repay it. Stoick had saved him from death a long time ago, he gave Eret a chance at life and Eret abandoned that life to give every chance for Berk’s survival. Then why, when all he wanted was to _run_ as far away as he could from Drago and start a new life again, a life without bloodshed, did she want to take him back to Berk of all places?

“Listen Eret, I called you smart once and I’d have trouble calling you smart again if you don’t understand how you leaving is an issue. You work for Drago, you are a dragon hunter. For all we know right now you’re going straight to Drago to report on the conditions in Berk, on the fact that that the ‘Dragon demons’ he despises are on Berk – “

“I would never do such a thing!” Eret shouted, her word’s offending him. Shadow growled, not appreciating his rider getting interrupted, Eret took a step back remembering that that was in fact a dragon who could end him with a simple signal from his rider.

“But we don’t know that,” she persisted unfazed by the interruption or Shadow’s hostile behavior. “How long will it take for Drago to send men after you? He doesn’t like people trying to leave his side without his say-so. How long will it take for you to be found, brought to Drago and tortured? How long will it take for you to break and tell him everything, life debts be damned!?” Her voice trailed off to a harsh whisper he could still hear clearly, “We both know that you won’t die for Berk when you have nothing and no one there, you would spill everything for a chance for survival and I’m not taking that chance. I’m not letting your foolish hopes, of living a normal life with Drago on the loose, to take my only family.”

She held her head high staring at him. He knew that he had no choice but to go back to Berk, it was truly foolish to hope to be free while he was branded as Drago’s. But maybe, just maybe, he could somehow help Berk. Maybe he could help the ‘Dragon demons’ put an end to Drago and then he could live the life he wanted.


	13. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Storm was back at the arena before the people there even reacted to a man falling out of the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait.

Hiccup had just finished questioning the gang about Gronckles when a screaming Eret was dropped at the academy’s entrance. Hiccup snorted, it looked like Eret had chosen not to ride on Shadow. He was also happy for the distraction, Storm had kept her word and came back within an hour and was now dropping of Shadow and Toothless back at the camp. While Storm’s trip back was filled with her and Shadow laughing at a screaming and scared Eret, Hiccup’s was spent trying to get Fishlegs to shut up.

Indeed, little had changed in the five years of his absence. Except now instead of information he read in a book, Fishlegs was spouting off his own hypothesis about anything related to the questions Hiccup gave the group about Gronckles. In hindsight Hiccup should’ve started with a different breed.

Storm was back at the arena before the people there even reacted to a man falling out of the sky. She marched into the arena, pulling Eret to his feet and taking him inside with her. She pushed him in the direction of the gang and went to stand near Hiccup.

“I’ve got another volunteer for us Chief!” She said with fake cheerfulness. Hiccup knew full well that Eret did not agree or even mention learning how to befriend dragons, he also knew that Eret would be too scared to try to argue about this.

“Great! He doesn’t have a lot of catching up to do because we only just got done talking about the Gronckle and _only_ the Gronckle.” He said, putting emphasis on every word. Storm raised her eyebrows and leaned to Hiccup whispering.

“Were they completely uninformed or…?”

“Fishlegs decided that this was the best moment to present his theories.” He whispered back. The other people in and around the academy could not heard them so they only saw the ‘demons’ leaning towards each other and staring at them.

“Okay!” Storm yelled startling the gang and Eret. “I just remembered something. I don’t know any of your names, so why don’t you introduce yourselves? I’ll point to you and you say your name and one of your strengths.” She clasped her hands together index fingers pointed out. She started with Astrid.

“Uhm… My name’s Astrid and I am… a good fighter?” Astrid said, a confused look on her face. Storm nodded and Astrid relaxed. Next Storm pointed to Ruffnut as she was standing next to Astrid.

“Her name’s Ruffnut and she has no – “ Tufffnut started answering for her. Storm frowned and once again regretted having her helmet on because these idiots couldn’t see the glares they were getting.

“No. I asked her, not you. Shut up and wait your turn.” She harshly interrupted him. Ruffnut felt strange, she was never addressed apart from her twin, it felt good. Still, that was her twin and she was the only one who could order him around, well except Berk’s chief, but these where foreigners. Ruffnut felt angry and she wanted the woman in front of her to know that.

“Hey! You can’t talk to my bro – “

“Name and strength. Now.” Storm interrupted her. Hiccup raised his eyebrows, it seemed that Storm was in a mood, he wondered what happened while she was getting Eret to get her into her ‘do as I say no questions asked’ mood. Hopefully the gang would be smart enough to do as she said.

“Ruffnut, my name’s Ruffnut and I know the basics of healing,” she said understanding that Storm was not messing around. The female ‘demon’ hadn’t shouted or try to intimidate them, yet her voice had been strict and scary in Rufnut’s opinion. Storm nodded and pointed to Fishlegs, who gulped.

“I’m Fishlegs and I know everything – well not everything – I did read and memorized every book we have on dragons. We have only four, but still,” he finished with an excitement filled voice.

“That’s awesome, but why don’t we stick to fact today while answering. I’m happy that you have theories, but today is about us getting to know your knowledge, you’ll have plenty of time on other days to tell us your theories. Okay Fishlegs?” Hiccup asked, not wanting to spend hours at the arena. Fishlegs’ smile dropped a little, but he was a man of knowledge and he could understand the importance of knowing what you were working with, so he nodded. Next Storm moved on to Eret.

“Eret. I know how to take down almost every dragon.” He said, voice full of apprehension. He was still mad and a bit scared after almost half an hour of being in Shadow’s claws. Storm smiled, she knew he was going to be testy for a while after taking that trip, but he did say that he wasn’t getting on Shadow no matter what. The only ones who hadn’t had their turn were Tuffnut and Snotlout, she pointed at Tuffnut first, as she knew he was the less likely one to try to show off, Hiccup’s stories and the little time she observed the group provided a lot of insight.

“The name’s Tuffnut and I am pretty good at annoying people,” he said with a smile on his face. The woman in front of him crossed her arms and he had a feeling he was being glared at. Storm turned to Hiccup who also had his arms crossed, she nodded at him. He nodded back, rolling his eyes.

“We’ll take it,” Hiccup said, fighting the annoyance that wanted to be felt. His eyes widened in disbelieve, Tuffnut _was_ good at annoying people it seemed. Storm shook her head and stood in front of Snotlout, she waved her hand gesturing for him to speak.

“I am Snotlout, I am the best and most known viking on Berk !” He boasted, pushing out his chest, trying to look confident. But Storm wasn’t looking at him, she was observing the others’ reaction to his ‘statement’. Astrid had her head in her arms crossed an annoyed look on her face, Fishlegs had an exasperated look on his, she saw the twins roll their eyes. Eret was leaning around Tuffnut, eyes wide with disbelieve and she barely heard Hiccup’s defeated mumble of ‘Dear Thor’.

“Is that so?” She asked, catching movement out of the corner of her eye. Stoick was back at the platform, some villager probably called him here as soon as she came back. She smiled under her helmet, a plan to take Snotlout down a few pegs forming in her mind. She swiftly turned on her peg-leg and confidently marched so she was beneath Stoick in the arena. Hiccup joined her, figuring out what she had planned.

“Stoick! As you see I got your informant back alive and he decided to volunteer with your dragon scouts! Isn’t that amazing?” She said with fake cheerfulness evident in her voice. Berk’s chief nodded, confused on why the girl was talking so _pleasantly_ with him when before she was calling him an idiot.

“Anyway!” Continued the boy next to her in the same tone. “We have a question for you! Who is the best viking from the younger generations?”

“Ah-well I would think-“ Stoick stuttered, perplexed by the question that seemed to come out of nowhere. He gathered himself and continued with confidence. “Astrid, I would say that Astrid was the best viking out of the younger generation.”

“Great!” Said Storm, then turned back towards the gang and Eret. The gang, minus Snotlout whose pride was bruised, were snickering among themselves and Eret just looked confused. The pair of dragon riders took their place in front of them again, the pair shared a look. Stoick’s words bruised Snotlout pride sure, but they wanted to bruise it a bit more.

“Eret!” the man straightened giving all his attention to the man who called for him. “You’ve been around in the world, tell me, when you heard of Berk’s people, whose name do you remember?”

“The only notable name that is heard out there was the chief’s, Stoick the Vast,” he answered, keeping his voice calm. Eret knew that if the male part of the pair was as half as dangerous as the female, he could be in trouble if he angered him.

“See Snotlout? You are neither well know or the best viking. So stop lying, we hate liars.” Hiccup’s voice was hard as he said that, losing all of the fake cheer that was previously there. Snotlout was about to retaliate, probably to try to defend his bruised pride, but once again Storm’s raised hand silenced him.

“Listen _Shit_ lout, you’ve got your name right, but not your strength. But thanks to that, now we know your biggest weakness, your Thor-damned pride and ego. Introductions over.” Hiccup looked at Storm.

He remembered a time when she would have had buckled while speaking with a man like Snotlout, he was full of pride seeing her now. She had come a long way from when she was fifteen, _both_ of them had. They were not vikings, but they were not to messed with and Storm’s actions proved that. Taking Snotlout down a notch was nothing overly impressive, but even that small task showed that what they lacked in size, they made up in brains. Hiccup felt very lucky to have a sister like Storm.

After Storm’s words no one knew what to say. Hiccup noticed Astrid slowly raising her hand.

“Yes?” he asked.

“What should we call you?” she questioned. The pair shared a look, similar smirks emerging behind their helmets. They answered together, voices melding into one, which creeped the others out.

“Whatever you like.”


	14. Bets and realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We rode dragons for a while,” answered Astrid.

A week had passed form the start of training. The pair’s days were mostly spent in the village and their nights spent flying in the cover of darkness. Hiccup didn’t want any of the Hooligans to see Toothless and connect the dots, they hadn’t recognized his voice, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t recognize Toothless.

Storm thought Hiccup’s anxiety was a bit ridiculous, after all he didn’t owe then anything. Hiccup left because they wanted everything to stay the same, they hadn’t wanted to _try_ , and the same was not something he could go back to, because he _tried and succeeded_ with Toothless, not with them.

Hiccup didn’t owe them anything, Storm had been telling him that every time that topic rose, but she knew the human mind was a fickle thing and no matter how much she persisted Hiccup had a sliver of doubt. So the night after the first day of training she made him a proposition.

“Why don’t we make a bet?” She asked, Hiccup was intrigued as they didn’t make bets without a reason. He raised an eyebrow motioning for her to continue. “A bet about who will be the first to figure that you’re, well, you.”

“Why?” he asked with clear doubt. When they made bets, they made sure that they _won_ those bets, doing everything in their power to make the other lose. Really all Storm had to do to win would be going straight to the person she bet on and tell them he was Hiccup, and he wasn’t ready to be found out.

“So you stop worrying chief. It as simple as that.” Seeing the doubt still in his eyes she crouched next to where he was sitting and put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, we alter our rules a bit, no interference, what happens, happens. Plus,” she continued, playfully nudging his shoulder, “you already have a lead. They think I’m your _sister_ , and Berk’s Hiccup never had a sister.”

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. He still wasn’t ready for them to know, he may never be ready, and Storm knew that. But making a bet out of it? Making it a game? He could do that, it would certainly make him less nervous and less prone to making mistakes. Storm hugged him and that made him relax.

“Remember, _if_ they find out, no matter _how_ they react, I will always be with you.” She whispered and the last bit of tension left him as he hugged her back. What he wouldn’t have done to have had her beside him all those years ago when he had been shunned for simply existing. He considered himself so extremely lucky to have them now. Toothless, Storm and Shadow were his family, not because they were born into it, but because they chose to be. To Hiccup that was better than the biggest gold pile in the world.

After that night he felt better. He wasn’t so tense and he started enjoying the training sessions at the academy. After the first day the pair started to judge their students characters, Hiccup mostly wanted to figure out if the gang changed too much that they wouldn’t be compatible with their original dragons and Storm had the task of figuring out which kind of dragon would suit Eret best.

It was true that the dragon chose you as much as you chose them and Hiccup had been lucky, that the dragons that were in the arena before the Red Death battle, chose the gang. Right now Hiccup was trying to get more information from the trainees, he already knew that the dragons they had once bonded with would still accept the people before him, but he wanted to know if the people would be against it.

“I remember your chief said that you had experience with dragons before.” He started, “I want to know what kind of experience that was, because the answers you gave to the test at the start of training were… minimal and very surface level.”

“We rode dragons for a while,” answered Astrid, who was a lot more comfortable addressing the two ‘demons’. “We fought _with_ them too, twice, then they… left us.”

“Why?” He saw Storm lift her head, she was sitting in the corner going over their maps again, and give her full attention to Astrid’s words.

“Wha-what do you mean ‘why?’. They left because they wanted too, we had nothing to do with them leaving.” Astrid forced out and the others gave agreeing mumbles. Hiccup sighed, clearly, they were in denial, he was about to tell them that when Storm spoke up.

“You had everything to do with it. Dragons don’t just leave their riders if they are happy and appreciated. You did do something. The question is: what did you do?” Storm had her head bowed once again and she hadn’t seen Astrid tense up and Snotlout glare at her. Hiccup knew that even if she had seen it she wouldn’t had cared.

“They left after a battle with the Outcasts. We were victorious, but not even two hours later the dragons left. We didn’t even have time to treat their wounds, we were okay but the dragons weren’t and they _left_.” Astrid barked, she was tense and her hands were clenched into tight fists as if ready for a fight. Storm snorted not lifting her head from her notebook. Hiccup hummed, raising his hand to get the attention back to him.

“Well, that’s what you did. If what you told us now true, you didn’t value them. They were injured, yet you didn’t treat them immediately. But that alone wouldn’t have drove them away. They weren’t happy here before that, were they?” Silence followed, the gang didn’t know what to say, they didn’t know of the dragons were happy before leaving. Yet, the village was still hostile to their dragons even after the Red Death battle, even after… their Hiccup left.

The realization hit the gang at full force. They were the ones to blame for their dragons leaving. No one put their dragons first, they hadn’t wanted to get the disdain of the village by putting their dragons first. At the time, the dragons hadn’t proved their worth to the village and most of the people in the village had grown up killing dragons, so most people were happily ignoring the act that their Hiccup and his dragon saved them.

At the time the village was still full of hate for dragons and that rubbed off on the teens, the indifference they showed their dragons drove them away. And they couldn’t blame anyone but themselves, because even when they had the path to greatness laid before them by their savior, they refused to see it in favor of fitting in.

The atmosphere was heavy. Eret was confused, not fully understanding what the others were talking about. Hiccup and Storm knew that the people in front of them were finally ready to see their dragons.

“You’re right,” whispered Fishlegs, his friends nodding along in agreement. The pair smiled, they were ready alright. The week after the first day was spent running circles around this realization and finally the time for their trainees to meet their dragons had come.

With the threat of Drago the week had dragged out. Both Hiccup and Storm knew that if the gang were reintroduced with their dragons without realizing why the dragons left, they would have made the same mistakes. Now they were ready, now they could reconnect with their dragons, which would take a long time. At least the realization came only after a week, now they had time to earn the dragons trust back.

Storm stood up, closed her notebook and headed for the exit, bumping into Hiccup as goodbye. Their trainees followed her with their eyes, confused as to where she was going as it was still early and their training wasn’t done yet. Hiccup clapped gaining their attention, he knew where Storm was headed and that was enough.

“Okay! No more small talk,” he stood tall, hands clasped behind his back. “Three laps around the academy without slowing down. You want to ride dragons? You have to have the stamina. Go!”

His order was met with confusion. The last week had been spent mostly answering questions and talking, and from the gangs perspective, trying to come up with names to call both of the ‘demons’ that wouldn’t offend them. Hiccup ignored Eret’s quiet question of ‘What is happening?’ and encouraged his students to do his given task.

“Go! Relaxation time is over!” He cheered with a smile on his face. Was he having fun ordering them around? Yes. Was that bad? Not really. He was once again happy while standing on the soil of Berk and that was quite the accomplishment.


	15. Tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow they would start forming the life changing friendships and the real fun would begin. 

“No Toothless, stay,” Hiccup said. After Storm left two days ago, Toothless had been more adamant about going everywhere with Hiccup, and that posed some problems. For one, Hiccup didn’t want anyone to see him and ask questions, questions he wasn’t ready to answer and without Storm here to either think of something or divert the conversation, he would surely give himself away.

When he finally got Toothless to stay within the forest he made his way to the arena. It was still early in the morning, the only people that were out were going about their work so no one saw him leave the forest. Hiccup was not looking forward to training. After the first proper training session Snotlout and the twins started _whining_ and trying to skip their given tasks. It was annoying to have to listen to them.

Astrid, Fishlegs and, surprisingly, Eret were taking their training seriously at least. While his exercises were condensed to lifting heavy objects, running around with heavy objects and squatting for an extended time, they did help with actual dragon riding and fighting on dragon. Having stamina was essential to do those things efficiently and the other three didn’t seem to get that.

He was happy that Storm would return soon with the dragons, she had more experience in getting other do what she told them to. Having taught Hiccup how to fight she had more than enough patience to teach those muttonheads. He felt a bit bad about looking forward to unloading them on her, but he knew that from the two of them she was more equipped to train them.

He reached the academy and went about getting everything ready for that day’s task. For the twins and Snotlout still running around with heavy sacks and for the other three moving on to accuracy training. He set up targets that were left in the academy by his request and went to check the weapons that were on the weapon rack.

The first to show up to training was Eret, next Fishlegs and Astrid strolled in talking about something, the twins were right after them and Snotlout was last. He told them what they were going to do that day and his words were met with moans form the three usual suspects. He groaned, annoyed that the idiots could deal with three days of training from him. As someone who was bullied by the three he couldn’t ignore the irony of them whining at manual labor when his younger years were spent getting mocked for being weak.

He told them to go do their work and then turned to the three that were left. He told them to line up in front of the targets and gave each of them a weapon they weren’t familiar with. He gave Astrid a dagger, Eret an axe and he let Fishlegs to choose for himself, he chose a bow. Their task was to get five consecutive bullseyes and only then would they move one to other tasks.

The day went like that. The three running were good to starts accuracy training the next day, Astrid and Eret were half way to getting enough bullseyes. Soon the evening rolled around and the training was over, Hiccup was excited to get back to the camp. Night was coming fast and with it Storm should be coming too, he had already decided to ride out to meet her, wanting to see her in the flesh. The moment he was out of the village he mounted Toothless and rode off.

After less than an hour of flying he saw a group of dragons in the sky being led by Shadow. He sped up and reached them in minutes.

“Storm!” he yelped, excited to see a familiar face again.

“Chief!” she yelled back, waving to him happily, a huge grin in her face. Hiccup observed the dragons trailing after her, he saw the same ones from the academy and a Rumblehorn he recognized from their Hideout.

“How was training?” She asked. He rolled his eyes.

“Exhausting, the twins and Snotlout are being idiots and I desperately want you to whip them into shape.”

“Really?” she laughed, “Alright, I’ll do my best to break them in. After all, we can’t have idiots on dragons.”

He laughed with her, knowing that the three wouldn’t last with their attitudes. They spent the time to the island just talking about what happened when they were separated, happy to be in each other’s presence again. Tomorrow the group would be introduced to the dragons, tomorrow they would start forming the life changing friendships and the real fun would begin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, two days late. Sorry, hope you still enjoy.


	16. Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if on cue Hiccup announced his return by landing in the arena.

The sun was already in the sky when the trainees reached the academy. The academy was empty and that greatly confused the group, normally the male dragon rider would already be there setting up for the day’s training. The group made their way inside, looking around for their absent teacher. Suddenly a loud clanking sound was heard and the metal chain ‘roof’ of the arena was lifted.

“HA!” Hiccup cried looking down at the arena from the observation platforms where the lever was located. “I told you it would work!”

The gang was confused, thinking that he was talking to them. Fishlegs was about to ask him what he meant when a voice coming from behind them made them jump.

“That you did Chief, now go. I’ll stay here and get the updates on our students here.” Storm said, smirking a little at how easily the group was startled, but of course all they saw was her standing with her arms crossed and no expression could be determined from her helmet covered face.

“Okay, please stand in a line I want to see all of you.” She continued not missing a beat. “I want a progress report from all of you. Astrid, as you are the non-official official leader of the group, why don’t you start. Tell me what I missed in the three days I was gone.”

“Your friend-“

“Brother, he’s my brother.”

“– Your brother had us doing stamina and accuracy training for the past few days. Running laps with heavy sacks, and yesterday he had us try to get five bullseyes in a row.” Astrid finished, not letting the interruption throw her off.

“Did you all move onto accuracy?” Storm asked, clearly skeptical. She watched as Snotlout shifted uneasily, the twins trying to act casual next to him. She snorted. “Clearly not all of you, looks like some of you thought slacking off was a good idea. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t slack off anymore. But that’s not for today, today we have something else planned for you.”

As if on cue Hiccup announced his return by landing in the arena. He was riding the Nadder and the rest of the dragons were right behind him. The gang stared in wonder not having had seen dragons so close for a long time.

“Wow,” Fishlegs breathed quietly.

“Today you will need to gain your dragon’s trust,” Hiccup started, dismounting the Nadder. “Now it won’t be easy, they let us ride them because they know us and trust us, they don’t know you. We have picked these dragons out for you beforehand.”

“Astrid, you’ll be bonding with the Nadder. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, the Zippleback –“

“- Fishlegs with the Gronckle. Snotlout, the Nightmare –“

“- and Eret, we thought the Rumblehorn would suit you best.” The pair finished talking and the gang started to snap out of their wonderstruck.

The pair went about helping their trainees ear their dragon’s trust. They started with Astrid and Fishlegs, having them both show the dragons that they meant no harm by feeding them. Then while Storm was showing Fishlegs the best places to scratch his dragon, Hiccup was showing Astrid how to properly appeal to the Nadder’s vanity.

They moved on the help the twins with no problem. Even though they weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, they understood that this was no time for goofing off. They managed to train their dragon witghout any mistakes. The only ones left for the task were Eret and Snotlout.

They needed less help than the other on account of them witnessing the process thrice before. The pair mostly watched from the sidelines, Storm next to Eret and Hiccup next to Snotlout, both closer to the dragons than the humans in case the dragons needed to be calmed down.

Eret was petting the Rumblehorn when it happened. Hiccup didn’t see what happened exactly, all he knew is that the Nightmare’s tail harshly smashed into him, sending him flying into the stone wall of the academy.

“HI-CHIEF!” he heard Storm shout in worry. She ran to his slumped form, her creaking prosthetic and dragon growls were the only sounds in the arena.

“Calm down your dragons! NOW!” She ordered.

The gang sprang from their shocked states. They did a surprisingly good job at calming the distressed dragons and Storm would’ve congratulated them if she wasn’t concerned for Hiccup. She kneeled next to him, lifting his slumped head.

“You need to oil that thing,” He whispered, his head lolling to the side, he was dazed.

“Hiccup,” she whispered. “I-I need to take off your helmet, I need to check your head, now.”

“No-no, S-Storm-“

“Please, Hiccup. You could be seriously injured. Listen, I’ll take mine off too, we’ll both show them our faces. If-if they say anything to you, if they f-figure out, I’ll help you, please…” She trailed off.

“Fine,” Hiccup forced out, his head was killing him and he rather be found out than die because of stubbornness. Storm breathed a sigh of relief and took her helmet off first, to show Hiccup that she wasn’t lying to him. Then she removed his helmet and didn’t hesitate in checking his head. She breathed another sigh of relief. His head wasn’t bleeding.

“Okay, follow my finger,” she said and slowly moved her finger in front of his eyes. Seeing him do that without trouble and not flinch at the sun light, her worries melted away. “You don’t have a concussion, that’s good.”

“Is he alright?” At Eret’s question Storm snapped to the gang that were standing near their dragons looking at the pair in worry. She nodded.

“You’re not bald.” Snotlout stated.

“Should I be?!” She yelped, for the first time the group could see the annoyance on her face.

“No, no, you shouldn’t,” Fishlegs was quick to assure her. “It’s just we thought th-that you might be disfigured to wear the helmets all the time…” he trailed off, shrinking into himself afraid of what she would do after hearing that. He and the rest of the group were surprised when they heard the pair laugh.

“Yeah, no.” Hiccup chuckled, taking Storm’s hand and getting up from the ground. “We’re not disfigured, of scarred or half-dragon, we just like our privacy”

He watched their faced for any sign of recognition, but when he found none he was both relieved and insulted. Had they really forgotten about him? He supposed it didn’t matter, at least he didn’t have to explain himself then and there.

“You’re hot.” The twins said simultaneously. The pair shared a look.

“Thank you. Anyway it seems that today’s training will be cut short. Tomorrow you’ll need to name your dragons, so be prepared,” Hiccup said, handing Storm her helmet and taking his own. He mounted the Nadder and went to put on his helmet.

“Get well, dragon boy,” Astrid said somewhat hesitantly. He paused looking her in the eyes without any interferences for the first time. He nodded as Storm chuckled.

“Dragon boy, I like that,” she said, pointing at Astrid from her place on the Rumblehorn. She also put on her helmet and took off, Hiccup and the other dragons following her lead.

“Those eyes,” Astrid whispered to herself. “They’re so familiar.”


	17. The start of the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Strom back at Berk the training schedule was back as before. The pair got to the academy just before sunrise and went about tidying it up, as it was quite a mess after the day before and all the dragons’ panic.

With Strom back at Berk the training schedule was back as before. The pair got to the academy just before sunrise and went about tidying it up, as it was quite a mess after the day before and all the dragons’ panic. Today, they decided, would be split in two. The first part of training would be for Storm to see their trainees’ progress in action (and to get the muttonheads up to speed), and the later part of the day would be spent with the dragons.

“So, helmets or no helmets?” Storm asked while putting some crates back in their place.

“Yes helmets, why’d you ask?” Hiccup asked back, raising his eyebrow. Ironically they were not wearing their helmets at the moment. Storm stopped, crossed her arms and turned to him.

“Oh, I thought that considering you want them to figure out who you are, we would make it easier by keeping the helmets off.”

“Wh-what? I don’t want them to figure anything out!” he said startled. Storm rolled her eyes and exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Chief, are you serious? You think I didn’t see the disappointment on your face? Or the fact that you had a lengthy staring contest with Astrid?”

“I was happy they didn’t notice! What? Should I have been disappointed that they didn’t figure out who I am? I mean how could they do that? It’s not like… I have the same colour hair, my voice is barely deeper, and it’s not like I’m missing a leg!” Hiccup practically shouted in clear frustration. He thought that the leg thing would’ve tipped them off, surely. Storm let her arms fall down as she approached him and gripped his arm, gaining his attention.

“Hiccup, you’re being stupid.” She stated. “There are a lot of clues for you being their Hiccup, but we gave them information that doesn’t add up. I mean come on, we told them I’m your sister, their Hiccup didn’t have one. Plus, while your hair colour is the same, you’ve obviously grown up, your face changed and to be honest, if I hadn’t grown up with you, I would’ve had a hard time connecting you now and you five years ago.” 

“Yeah,” he gave a weak smile. “But I thought the leg you’ve tipped them off, at least a little bit.”

“Thor dammit Hiccup!” She exclaimed annoyed at his stupidity. He jumped confused by her sudden outburst. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m missing a leg too, the same one as you in fact. Again, the evidence against you being their Hiccup is just as abundant as you being him. Now stop acting like you don’t want them to find out.”

“I don’t!” He cried desperately. She released his arm, anger burning in her eyes. 

“No Hiccup. You don’t want to be the one who tells them. You want them to come to you after figuring it out, you want them to accept you back, because this is your home. And now that they want dragons to fight beside them, now that we are getting the gang to bond with their dragons, you want your place more than ever, because they changed.”

Hiccup let out a defeated sigh and slowly nodded. He picked up another crate, going back to work. They worked in silence for a few minutes when they heard the chatter of their trainees coming to the academy. Strom was about to put on her helmet when Hiccup stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“No helmets,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. “I do want them to figure it out, you’re right.”

“Hey, if all of this goes up in flames, just know, we have dragons we can run as far away when we want to.”

“No, I’m done running.” He said, his eyes full of determination. Storm put her helmet down and quickly hugged him.

“I’m proud of you.” She whispered, releasing him just as the gang entered the arena.

The pair turned to their trainees and went about telling them the plan for the day, the fact that they would need to do the exercises again earned some groans of displeasure, but those were ignored. They didn’t waste a moment and started them straight away. Surprisingly four of the six students did well enough by the pair’s standards. Ruffnut was the one no one expected to do so well, considering she slacked off with her brother while Hiccup was in charge of their training. When she was asked what made her change her mind and start taking the training seriously she looked at Storm and simply answered:

“You look like a person who is not above torturing to get us up to your standard.”

Storm laughed, the proceeded to prove her right by making the two remaining slackers run circles until they dropped from exhaustion. After that the first part of the day went quickly, endurance was the most important thing the gang was training for, so the fact that the most they could do was three bullseyes in a row didn’t matter as much. With a promise to train on their own time, and to make sure the others were training, they excitedly moved on to the second part of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter after not updating for almost two weeks? I never fail to disappoint.


	18. Saddle up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wanted to go just with ‘Storm’, she wasn’t liking it, but she had no problem with the name Stormfly.”

Storm sent the gang to get fish and told them to come back to the academy with enough to feed the dragons. They were going to take a big step in their training – actually getting on their dragons. They all meet back at the academy and Hiccup told them that they were going into the woods, to a clearing that was near enough to the village and far enough from their camp that the pair decided to keep the gang’s dragons there.

After a bit of skepticism from the gang and having Snotlout go and tell someone where they were going -after all they didn’t entirely trust the ‘dragon demons’- they followed the pair. When they reached the clearing and as the dragons came into few they relaxed. The dragons perked up when they saw the humans and they started happily approaching them when they smelled the fish that the trainees brought. The gang became completely engrossed with their dragons while Hiccup and Storm overlooked the group from the edge of the clearing, having pulled up their helmets and being cautious as to not repeat the arena incident.

The dragons were more trusting in the woods, and happily bonded with the future riders. None of them noticed the saddles that were pilled near one of the trees. The saddles were old versions that were changed out for better ones by the people who lived with the on their hideout or the pair themselves had used. The old saddles would be good for the first week or so of flying, then they would need to be swapped with new ones.

The pair let the group have some more time with playing with their dragons, both quietly wishing that they had more time like this with their own dragons. But with training the Berkians in dragon riding, deciding to patrol the island every evening on their own accord for everyone’s safety, getting food and doing their best not to stray from their own training schedules left very little time to actually enjoy their time with their best friends. While technically Storm could have Shadow with her, she knew that would make Hiccup sad, as he couldn’t have Toothless with him, and without Shadow Toothless would be lonely.

“Okay, before you get on your dragons, they need a name,” stated Hiccup. “When you give your dragon a name you are furthering your bond, you’re giving them a place in your life, you’re giving them a place in your friend group”

“You will no longer say ‘I’m going to feed the dragon’ or-“ Storm gestured to Astrid and her Nadder. “- ‘I’m going flying on my Nadder’, you’re going to say ‘I’m going to play with...” She trailed off, gesturing to Fishlegs to finish the sentence.

“…Meatlug…” He said hesitantly, eyeing his dragon carefully and when the Gronckle happily nuzzled up to him, he smiled. “Yeah, he seems to like the name!”

“That’s great, Meatlug’s a girl by the way” Storm smirked at the embarrassed look that crossed his face.

“Your turn,” Hiccup pointed to the rest of the group.

While the group went about naming their dragons Hiccup shared a small smile with Storm, the sight in front of them reminding both the riders of the first days with their own dragons.

Snotlout went with the name Hookfang, his dragon not accepting the boy’s desperate attempts at naming him something like ‘Deathclaw’ or ‘Death-bringer’ or any variation with the word ‘death’ in it. The twins quickly figured out that their dragon liked the names Barf and Belch. Eret gave the name Skullcrusher to his Rumblehorn, much to Snotlout’s apparent annoyance as he kept mumbling something about ‘Dragons not accepting cool names’.

“She liked the name Stormfly,” Astrid said, then she continued confusion clear on her face. “I wanted to go just with ‘Storm’, she wasn’t liking it, but she had no problem with the name Storm _fly._ ”

“Some dragons are just like that, they just take to some names more than others,” Hiccup said sharing an amused look with his sister, much to the confusion of the others. The pair knew that Stormfly, having spent time with them, knew that the name ‘Storm’ belong to the female of the pair and the Nadder didn’t want there to be confusion between the humans, even though the gang had no idea of her name.

“You’ll get saddles that we’ll be helping put on your dragons,” Storm explained while handing each saddle to the respective rider. “These saddles will need to be replaced with ones that suit both you and your friend best, but these will do for starting out.”

The pair helped the new riders to put on the saddles one by one, strategically leaving the twins and Snotlout for last, as they were the ones most likely to try flying off without any real knowledge, just their old memory of how. The twins would do so for the shear want to cause chaos, even with Ruffnut having some more respect for Storm, they wouldn’t miss a chance at destruction, and Snotlout, well, he had been quieter that day, but that didn’t mean that he suddenly found respect for the pair, as he looked like he was planning something. Storm wasn’t worried, Snotlout wasn’t the smartest of the group by a long shot, he thought they were bald for Thor’s sake! And Storm knew for a fact that their helmets didn’t cover all of their heads and you could see the back of their heads and know their hair colour after one meeting.

Then came the slightly difficult part. Neither of them had their dragons with them and usually they did this part from the back if their own dragons, but this was going to be different. Storm was the one that shot down the idea of bringing Shadow with them on the basis that if they saw one of their dragons that keeping the other one, in this case Toothless, away would be very suspicious. Their trainees would definitely pester them until they saw the Night Fury and Hiccup wasn’t ready for that. They both decided that the sensible thing would be taking a demonstrative flight with them one at a time, but one of them had to be on the ground with the rest of the group, because they didn’t want any of them to get overeager and try on their own, doing too much too fast, potentially injuring themselves or the dragons.

The gang were all excited by the fact that soon they’ll be in the air, only Eret was showing some obvious caution as he had never been on the back of a dragon for flying.

“Think we should start with Eret?” Hiccup whispered to Storm, when she nodded he gently pushed her forward, making it clear that she would be the one helping the ex-dragon trapper. She glared at him, whoever next that’ll say that Hiccup was too innocent or nice to do something so cunning will get a punch in the face from her. The little shit knew that she would rather stay away from the man, yet he still made her do this. Storm gave Hiccup a sly smile knowing full well that she will make him ride with Astrid when the time came.

She schooled her features and confidently walked up to Eret and Skullcrusher, she had a dragon rider to make and she would not let her emotions come in the way of success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will finish this story, someday


	19. First flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So I just… get on?”

After glaring at Hiccup one more time, Storm looked at Eret who was not masking his confused look. It occurred to Storm that they haven’t actually explained what they were doing to their trainees. Storm crossed her arms and gave a small nod to Hiccup, waiting for him to explain their plan to the group.

“We’ll be taking you all on a flight, one by one, you’ll be using your own dragons and we’ll just direct you from behind you.”

“Isn’t flying with someone else harder than flying alone?”

“Yes it is, but if you get the hang of flying with someone else, flying solo will be easier. Also, if you make a mistake we’ll be there to fix it right away and you won’t need to crash for us to notice that you did something wrong.” He easily explained. The group made noises of understanding, except Astrid who looked way too thoughtful to be thinking just about the lesson that laid ahead. 

Hiccup went about double checking the saddles again trying to look occupied, while Storm gave her full attention to Eret, who was still looking confused and a bit scared. As soon as he saw that Storm was concentrated on the lesson, Hiccup stopped pretending and eagerly awaited for her to start. Usually he was the one who trained the new riders in flying. Considering Eret was the only one who had absolutely no previous knowledge of riding dragons, watching Storm train him really interested Hiccup.

“Out of everyone here, you will have to work the most to become a dragon rider,” she stated and Eret stared at her with a look that clearly meant ‘You don’t say?’. She raised an eyebrow, almost laughing out loud as she remembered when she used to stare at him like that, taking comfort in the fact that he clearly didn’t remember her. “Let’s start simple, do you feel like you’re ready to get on a dragon?”

“I only _just_ touched a dragon, without the intent to kill, yesterday, before that I spent eight years trying to be the best dragon trapper alive. So no, I’m not ready to get on the back of a dragon,” he said almost harshly.

“Tough luck, you’re doing it. Now.” Eret let out a defeated sigh.

“Why did you even ask me then?”

“To be polite,” she deadpanned. Rolling her eyes she continued. “Anyway, I’ve seen how you act around Skullcrusher, you’re on the way of becoming great friends. Just lose the prejudice and the attitude and you’ll do well. Skullcrusher had been ridden before by both me and my Chief, but with every dragon it’s important that you ask them if it’s okay, especially the first few times.” She stood there, waiting for Eret to make the first move towards his dragon.

Hiccup had to admit, from the side she made the perfect picture of a patient teacher, her hands clasped in front of her, face not betraying any negative emotions. Hiccup had received the same stance many times before when Storm was helping him with his fighting, and seeing her from the side was as impressive as receiving her patient lessons. He also silently prayed that her attention would not stray from the man in front of her. Hiccup knew that she hated having an audience when teaching something completely new and the fact that he and the rest of the gang were all watching would not be received well.

His prayers went unheard as a moment later he saw Eret glance their way. Hiccup unconsciously held his breath, after she didn’t immediately glare at them, he slightly relaxed only for Storm to slowly turn to the watching group and stare at them. Storm knew that they were watching from the start, she actually had no problem with it, but the uncomfortable look that crossed Eret’s face didn’t sit right with her. She continued staring at the frozen group for a long moment, before startling them all by calmly speaking.

“Don’t you have better things to do?”

The group receiving her stare sprang into action, quickly turned around, trying to distract themselves with caring for their dragons. Hiccup was the only one who hadn’t sprang away from her stare, he just raised his hands in defeat and gathered the others who weren’t a part of Storm’s lesson and made them sit down near each other. Finding out what they remembered about _actually_ being on a dragon seemed like a great idea to him.

After the group was properly distracted, Storm gestured to Eret to start. Eret, who was impressed, yet not surprised, turned towards Skullcrusher and gently placed a palm on the dragon’s nose. From the start of his (forced) volunteering he knew that his past views would change. He hated to admit that his views had already started to crumble after his previous encounters with the ‘Dragon demons’, in the past he couldn’t comprehend the fact that there were people who dedicated their lives to dragons, but after only two encounters with _his_ dragon he could see himself living a similar life as the woman who stood in front of him.

“Hey,” he gently started. “I wanted to ask you, if I could go on a ride with you?”

He was surprised when Skullcrusher gave an amused snort and nudged him in the side. Startled by the dragon’s reaction he quickly glanced at Storm as if to ask if he did something wrong. He found her observing them with a small smile on her face.

“You did great, Skullcrusher has already attached himself to you, he’s very eager to go flying with you. You must be a great man to earn such trust in such a short time.” She smiled straight at him, and at that moment he had a hard time connecting this young woman with the same one who could have killed him, multiple times.

“What now?”

“You get on Skullcrusher, then I get on behind you,” she then raised her voice, animatedly talking to all of the people in the clearing. “Fair warning to all of you, we will have to touch you! Get rid of your fears now because there won’t be any time for it on the dragon! You panic, the dragon panics, we crash.” She spoke with her normal tone again, “Then we take off and I’ll be guiding you all the way through.”

Storm’s warning caught the attention of the gang that were sitting in a circle at the other side of the clearing, giving Storm space for her lesson. Almost all of them easily accepted the fact that they’ll have to be close to one of the ‘Dragon demons’. _Almost_. Snotlout looked like he had just been force feed yak dung and he voiced his displeasure directly to Hiccup.

“Why do you have to touch us!?” Hiccup was amused for a second, until he saw that Snotlout was not kidding.

“You’re serious?” he asked, a defeated sigh escaping him. Hiccup face-palmed. “How else are we supposed to stay on the dragon while sitting behind you?”

“Well – you could – shut up!” Snotlout sneered. Hiccup shook his head and decided to ignore the man, not having the patience to deal with him. Hiccup went back to answering the rest’s (mostly Fishleg’s) questions.

Eret was trying to work up the courage to get on the saddle, cautiously walking to his dragon’s side, never taking his hand off of the dragon. Ha kept glancing at Storm, waiting for her to tell him that he was doing something wrong, but she didn’t say anything.

“So I just… get on?”

“Yes.” She stated. “If I see you making a mistake I won’t keep quiet, you need to relax.”

Eret sighed, consciously relaxing his muscles, shacking his hand a couple times to expel his nervous energy. He strongly gripped the saddle’s handles, pulling himself up on the dragon. He involuntarily stiffened as soon as he sat down and unintentionally squeezed his legs into Skullcrusher’s sides. The dragon, knowing that that was how previous people had indicated take off, spread his wings preparing to launch himself into the sky. Luckily Storm was faster and stopped the dragon with a hand on his snout and a firm ‘No.’

“Not yet,” she reiterated to the Rumblehorn. In her peripheral vision she saw the group watching them, the twins were snickering and Snotlout was about to shout something at Eret, but he was stopped by Astrid harshly elbowing him in the stomach. She gave the group a quick thumbs up and saw the rest relax.

“I thought I told you to relax?” she asked Eret, who was silently panicking.

“It’s against my instinct to do this,” he said, wide eyed.

“Fight your instincts then,” she said in a no-nonsense tone. “Get comfortable, please.”

He cautiously shuffled in the saddle, desperately trying not to squeeze Skullcrusher’s sides even a little bit. Storm rolled her eyes, kneeling so she was eye to eye with the dragon.

“Wait for him to tell you when to take off, okay?” she whispered. The dragon gave an affirmative growl and she stood.

From her position she could see that despite his snail like pace, Eret did manage to comfortably sit on the dragon. She went up to Skullcrusher’s side, ignored Eret’s nervous look, and pulled herself up in one swift movement.

“Keep a firm grip on the handles, don’t freak out when I touch you, and tell Skullcrusher to take off, he’s waiting for a verbal command this time,” she lowered her helmet. “Try not to panic or lean when we finally get in the air.”

Storm patted his shoulder and he tensely told Skullcrusher to take off. The dragon took off slowly, sensing his rider’s nervousness. They started flying away from the village, Eret tensed when he felt hands on his waist almost leaning away, but the hands didn’t let him and kept him firmly in place.

“Okay, you were about to lean to the right to get rid of my hands, and Skullcrusher would’ve harshly turned and probably thrown both of us down,” she said without any bitterness that he thought he would find. She then pointed to the ocean that they were slowly nearing. “Get us to those sea stacks, try actually giving Skullcrusher small cues, squeeze his sides to speed up, and slowly lean right or left to gently turn. And if he doesn’t pick up on the cues, tell him what you want.”

Eret took her words to heart and very cautiously started to speed up, squeezing the dragon’s sides a few times. He forgot that he had a passenger and almost jumped when he felt one of her hands on his back, lightly pushing him down. He leaned forward and the hand returned to his waist. With Eret’s encouragement to Skullcrusher they were rapidly approaching the sea stacks.

“Circle around the sea stack and touch down.”

He quietly followed Storm’s command. Eret was so concentrated that he didn’t even register that he had actually rode a dragon. Storm jumped down from Skullcrusher and Eret followed, she lifted her helmet and kept silently eyeing him with an amusement. He stared back at her, shrugging his shoulders, not understanding why she was doing so. She half-heartedly rolled her eyes.

“How was it?” she probed.

“How was- OH!” his eyes bulged, disbelief filling his voice. “I just rode a dragon and I’m alive! You’re alive! We didn’t DIE!”

Storm snorted a laugh. Unexpectedly arms snaked around the woman as Eret hugged her, her eyes widened. He kept whispering ‘Thank you’s, until he finally understood what he was doing and hastily let her go. They spent a few moments in uncomfortable silence until Skullcrusher nudged Eret and Storm awkwardly cleared her throat.

“You’re take off was expected for a beginner,” she began animatedly gesturing with her hands, a nervous habit she couldn’t seem to shake. “And at the end you were doing great, of course you’ll need practice and a few more pointers, but that will happen later when everyone had had their chance to show us what they know. One thing that I can tell you right now is that you need to relax, right now you are _not_ fighting, you’re just flying without some looming danger. Enjoy it.”

“Well I did have an enemy behind me the entire time.” He forced out, not wanting to admit that he was actually terrified of the dragon way more than he was of Storm.

“We’re not enemies. At least you’re not my enemy,” she specified.

“We fought at least a hundred times, you almost _killed_ me once. Every interaction we had before Berk was marked by a battle, how is that not being enemies?”

“Not every interaction,” she exclaimed before she could stop herself. Storm stared straight at him. “Dragon trappers are my enemies, you’re no longer one of them. Let’s go, the trip back will be all you.”

Eret followed her with his eyes. She slammed her helmet down, annoyed at herself. Eret was once again in the saddle and when Storm got behind him he didn’t wait and told Skullcrusher to take off. They were moving faster than before and reached the clearing in half the time.

‘One down, five to go,’ she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest chapter yet.


	20. Altercations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lose the attitude or lose a fucking leg.” She growled.

Hiccup was really bored. Eret and Storm had taken off only ten minutes ago, but glancing at them every other minute was way more entertaining than the silence that he had to sit in. The only one who wanted to talk was Fishlegs, especially now as he had Meatlug, he asked about everything. Fishlegs took their ‘Your actions made your dragons leave’ talk seriously, maybe too seriously. The poor man was afraid to breathe on his Gronckle in case the dragon didn’t like it. Fishlegs asked a lot of questions, each one slowly making Hiccup more annoyed.

“Do Gronckles like foot rubs?”

“Maybe.”

“How fast do they get tired?”

“Depends on what they’re doing.”

“Is Dark Deep real?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been there?”

“Yes.”

“Can I go there!?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh… Will Gronckles eat any rock?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Do they have a favorite type of rock?”

“Some have preferences.”

“Does Meatlug have a favorite?”

“If she has, she hasn’t told me.”

After Hiccup nearly shouted at him because of his borderline stupid questions Fishlegs had taken out a notebook and started writing down everything he remembered. Hiccup felt a bit guilty about almost exploding at the man, but his irritation was greater, because no one should have to say ‘No Fishlegs, Meatlug won’t leave you if you don’t find out what her favorite rock is by the end of week!’

Hiccup loved silence, he had forgotten that comparatively speaking both he and Storm were quiet individuals. But their silences were a comfortable, expected thing, and in the moment he felt like banging his head on a rock because this silence was uncomfortable and he had nothing else to do but wait.

He was fiddling with his wrist straps and he felt like he was being watched. Sparing a glance up, his suspicions were proven correct when he saw both Astrid and Snotlout observing him. Well, Astrid was observing him, Snotlout was trying to glare his head off. ‘Wow, even when he doesn’t know who I am he hates me,’ Hiccup thought. After a few moments of staring back at them he raised an eyebrow in question, which made Snotlout drop his gaze and glare at the grass instead.

That left Hiccup staring at Astrid, who now had a calculating stare pointed back at him. They ended their staring match only when Skullcrusher landed in the clearing. Hiccup stood as soon as he saw Storm get off of the dragon, her body language betraying her foul mood. He gently steered her away from the others, who were ganging up on Eret asking him about his first flight.

He looked at her with concern, she lifted her helmet rubbing her eyes in frustration. Hiccup swiftly looked her over, but didn’t find any indication of a physical fight, yet he knew that something had to happen for Storm to be in such a state. He sent a heated glare at Eret, turning in the man’s direction ready to march over and knock him out. Hiccup was stopped by Storm yanking him back to her.

“He-he was great, did everything right,” then she started harshly whispering. “ _I_ was the one who slipped up. I’m not angry at him or you, I’m angry at _myself_. Now we have a job to do, you-“ she jabbed a finger to his chest, "- take Fishlegs and Astrid, I’ll handle Shitlout.”

“His name is Snotlout,” he finally whispered. Storm shrugged, clearly not giving a shit, and joined the sitting circle that had once again formed. The gang were still quizzing Eret on his flight and paid no real attention to Storm as she pulled her helmet down and laid down, crossing her arms behind her head she just cloud gazed ignoring the sound of their talking.

“Fishlegs,” Hiccup called, waving him over. “Your turn.”

While Fishlegs was very cautious, his lesson when by quicker. At least the getting on Meatlug and taking off part was faster, the flying took the same time. In the time without Hiccup and Fishlegs, Storm had closed her eyes and to others it seemed like she was asleep. The conversation around her had come to a natural stop, so she could clearly hear it when Ruffnut started whispering to her brother.

“I think she’s sleeping.”

“Yeah, and?” Tuffnut whispered back, with a hopeful tone. They began whispering even quieter, but Storm got the gist of their conversation pretty easily. The twins wanted to scare her awake and have blackmail on her later, at which Storm raised an eyebrow, if she was really sleeping the only thing that ‘scaring her awake’ would accomplish, would be a punch in the face and a dislocated shoulder each. But she wasn’t about to stop them, because she was still angry and punching something (or some _one_ ) was a good way to release some of her feelings. So she waited.

“Don’t,” she heard Eret say. “Don’t try that, for your own sake.”

“Why?” questioned Tuffnut. “Don’t you want to see one of them scared? Because that would be awesome!” he loudly whispered, Ruffnut and Snotlout eagerly nodding their heads beside him, Astrid just watched the conversation, amused. Eret shook his head.

“For one, I don’t think she’s actually asleep-“

“I’m not.” Storm interrupted, making the group jump, a small smile resting on her face.

“…and she would probably hurt you if you did that.” He finished after a second of hesitation. The twins groaned, both glaring at Eret.

“You woke her up by talking!” Ruffnut accused. Storm sat up with a sigh, removed her helmet and stared at the twins with a tired look. The twins didn’t notice it as they were still glaring at Eret. Storm spared a glance to the rest of the group who were observing her with curiosity, undoubtedly interested at what she would do next. Storm snapped her fingers, gaining the attention of the twins, who did their best to shift blame as soon as they noticed her looking at them.

“It was Snotlout’s idea!” they both exclaimed, pointing at the alarmed man.

“No it wasn’t,” she saw Snotlout relax. “He isn’t brave enough to try something like that.”

Her words made Astrid snicker and Snotlout to let out an insulted ‘Hey!’. She ignored him, gesturing to Eret.

“Listen to him, after all, out of all of you he knows me the best,” she met Eret’s stare head on, making the man lower his gaze. “Oh, and-“ she leaned towards the twins, “- I’ll be behind one of you when it’s time for your lesson.”

That made the twins share a panicked look, they had forgotten about that fact. They mutually decided that they wouldn’t try to ‘prank’ the woman again, at least for that day. The sound of Meatlug’s flying diverted their attention. The Gronckle landed and her riders got off, Fishlegs barely making it to ground before he started giddily telling others about his flight.

“It’s my turn, right?” Asked Snotlout not listening to Fishlegs. The pair of dragon riders reluctantly nodded, Storm because she needed to fly with him and Hiccup was just sad for his sister. “Then sit back and watch Dragon boy, I’ll show you a dragon rider.”

The group stood away, giving him space and watched as he beckoned Hookfang over, by… yelling at the dragon, who did not take that well. The Nightmare went to him alright, and when Snotlout tried to put his hand on Hookfang for stability, the dragon set himself on fire, almost burning the man’s hand.

“Hey, you stupid dragon! Watch what you’re doing!” he then turned to the group, mostly focusing on Storm. “Don’t worry babe, you’ll get your hands on me soon enough.” He winked and went back to yelling at his dragon.

The pair’s blood was boiling. Yet they waited, knowing that Hookfang could take care of himself and until it came to blows, yelling would do nothing for the dragon, except make him more prone to acting against his would-be rider.

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Astrid asked the pair, who shook their heads. Their stances were rigid, Astrid saw that they were ready to jump the second they decided that intervention was necessary.

Hiccup moved as soon as he saw Snotlout raise his hand in preparation to strike. He was in front of Hookfang in a flash, catching Snotlout’s punch, twisting the man’s arm behind his back and incapacitating him on the spot. Suddenly Storm was in front of him, the murder in her eyes mirroring Hiccup’s, which Snotlout couldn’t see.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she harshly shouted, sending shivers down everyone’s (except Hiccup’s) spines.

“It’s not my fault the dragon doesn’t recognize his master!” he yelled, trying to get out the hold that Hiccup had him in, it was becoming painful on account that the more Snotlout struggled, the more Hiccup tightened the hold to the point of nearly dislocating his shoulder.

“They are not thralls! They have no masters!” she shouted, not giving a shit about the audience.

“Then you’re liars! You told us you can help, that you’re some great ‘Dragon demons’, yet you do nothing about a disobedient dragon!” he shouted back, still trying to prove some kind of superiority against the visitors. Storm got really close to his face, her face was hardened in a murderous glare.

“Lose the attitude or lose a fucking leg.” She growled. The gang were watching all this happen in various states of shock, not knowing if they should help Snotlout or not. They jumped when Hiccup tightened his hold on the man once more, producing a pained yelp from him, it was met with Fishleg’s frightened cry, at which Meatlug flew over to comfort her frightened rider. Hiccup leaned down to Snotlout’s ear.

“We’ve seen enough,” he growled out, his tone matching that of Storm’s. Hiccup pushed the man out of the hold, making Snotlout nearly stumble. Hiccup raised his voice. “You are way too egoistical to be riding a dragon and until you go down on your knees and beg Hookfang for forgiveness, in front of _all_ of us, you’re not getting a chance of even getting in the saddle. You are not to have any unsupervised contact with Hookfang, and if he rejects you, you’re not getting another chance.”

“Fishlegs!” Storm called, interrupting any stupid comeback that Snotlout was about to say. “Make sure he gets back to the village and report everything that happened to your Chief. Your lesson is done for today and he is suspended until further notice.”

Snotlout stomped out of the clearing, Fishlegs trailed after him after saying his goodbyes to Meatlug. The pair took a deep breath, calming down for the moment. Storm went about removing Hookfang’s saddle, while Hiccup spoke to the rest of the gang.

“Your lessons will still happen, but that-“ he said, gesturing to Hookfang who was getting scratches from Storm, however he was clearly distraught,”- is what you don’t do.”

They were all silent as Hiccup when over to help Strom. The two of them did fast work of calming Hookfang down enough for him to go take a nap. The twins talked between themselves and decided to chance asking the pair to get their lesson next, as they were eager to go back to the village both to get away from the scary pair and to make fun of Snotlout. The pair easily agreed, telling Astrid, who had to have her lesson still, and Eret, who would have to wait for Astrid to be done so she would be alone with the ‘demons’, to wait.

Despite what had just happened both Ruffnut and Tuffnut were exited to get into the air and their lesson went off with little mistakes. After taking off the twins tried to go in separate directions, making Barf and Belch crash their heads together, which almost made the four humans fall, but afterwards they made their way around the designated sea stacks without a hitch. Their landing was a bit rough, but all in all neither Storm nor Hiccup had any harsh reprimands. The twins left with a quick hug to each of the Zippleback heads.

That left only Astrid who needed an assessment on her flying skill. Storm shoved Hiccup towards the viking, making it clear that he will be the one in charge of Astrid’s lesson.


	21. Night-time flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We should do this again, after you get even better,” he smiled at Astrid.

Hiccup wasn’t as nervous as he thought he would be. Facing another flight with Astrid was what he worried about most, he worried about slipping up and making her realize that he was their Hiccup. But the altercation with Snotlout reminded him one thing, he wasn’t _their_ Hiccup anymore. He knew that no matter what happened from that point on, Berk had no control over him or his family. He confidently walked up to Astrid, who was a bit more guarded then before.

“Call Stormfly over and we can start,” he said. “I guess you already know what to do, but alas, I need to see your skill myself.”

Astrid nodded and called for her dragon, who happily hopped over. She pet the Nadder happily, giving soft words of encouragement and she got on the saddle without prompt. Although Astrid was the best dragon rider in Berk, at the moment she looked very uncomfortable and Hiccup almost laughed at the look on her face.

“Not used to the saddle?” he questioned.

“Not really,” she answered, shifting around. “All the flying I did was without one.”

“It’s better in the long run,” he saw that she went still and got on behind her, resting his hands on her stiff waist. He leaned over her shoulder so she could hear him better.

“Take off whenever you’re ready, there are some sea stacks near the island, your goal right now is to touch down on them as safely and as fast as you can.”

With Astrid’s encouragement, Stormfly shot up. Hiccup wasn’t ready for that kind of speed so he unconsciously tightened his grip on her waist as he held in a surprised yelp. On the ground Storm giggled knowing full well that Hiccup hadn’t expected such a strong take off.

“Help me take off their saddles,” she said with a smile, lightly slapping a wide eyed Eret on the shoulder, walking towards Meatlug.

In the air Astrid let out an exited laugh, aiming Stormfly to the sea stacks that the man behind her described. The Nadder made fast work of the distance between the clearing and the sea stack, reaching them in five minutes. Landing was an easy affair and Astrid jumped down as soon as Stormfly touched the ground.

“That was amazing!” she cried, a huge smile adoring her face. “I missed the sky so much! I can’t believe I get to fly again.” She let out a laugh willed with happiness. Hiccup lifted his helmet, an affectionate smile on his face, he put a hand on Stormfly’s nose as Astrid turned to him.

“Yeah, it’s amazing. She’s amazing,” he agreed softly petting the dragon, he sent a soft look in Astrid’s direction. “You’re amazing.”

If he had kept his gaze on Astrid, he would’ve seen the blush that decided to appear on her face. Her smile didn’t falter, but she did decide that the grass was more interesting to look at than the man that stood in front of her.

“So, how did I do?”

“I told you, amazing. You’re a natural at this,” he complemented.

“You’re not just saying that are you?” she asked, her calculating gaze pinning him down. “Because I don’t need another guy flirting with me.”

It was Hiccup’s turn to blush, he knew that his disposition was a bit warmer around the woman, but he hoped she wouldn’t notice it. So what if his old feelings came out after seeing her laughing so happily after the successful flight. He let out an awkward chuckle.

“I telling the truth, I can see that you’re a proud and capable woman, and lying to you about your skill would just undermine your actual success,” he explained. Now both of them stood with flushed faces.

“Oh, good then.” She awkwardly said, letting her gaze fall once again. Silence surrounded them, neither knowing what to say, until an idea formed in Hiccup’s head.

“How about you show me what you remember from your last time? I would love to see something beyond the basics of flying.”

Astrid nodded her head eagerly, the prospect of more flying making her excited and the setting sun would make the view even more breathtaking. She was on Stormfly in seconds, encouraging Hiccup to hurry up and get on. This time he was ready for the fast take off and held on firmly from the start. They gained altitude fast and after a few loops in the air they leveled out, then Astrid asked Stormfly to dive and the dragon accepted the request. She waited until the last second to pull up, a joy filled laugh escaping her, Hiccup’s excited cries joining.

The sun had set when Astrid eased Stormfly’s flying, guiding the Nadder to fly around Berk, watching the village from a view she feared she could never see again. The village was at ease, bringing forth memories that made her heart ache. Hiccup let out a content sigh, fighting the urge to hug Astrid closer, this flight reminding him of the one they took all those years ago.

“At least there’s no nest to ruin the moment,” he mumbled to himself. Confusion clouded Astrid’s eyes as she barely heard the words that clearly weren’t meant for her. ‘What does he mean by that?’ she couldn’t help but think.

“Hey look! A shooting star,” his voice disturbed her thought process. He was pointing at the sky above Berk’s forest.

“Huh, so it is,” she said, not understanding how that was important. A shooting star was something that held more wonder in one’s younger years, with all the tales of any wish being granted if you wish upon it. She felt his laugh against her back.

“It’s just that, my sister and I used to try to catch it,” he said with a happy sigh. “Whenever we saw one, we would race and try to get as close to it as possible. We never succeeded, we know that we never will, but we still do it sometimes.”

Astrid let herself smile, imagining those two, truthfully dangerous, people chasing something that could never conceivably be caught. She steered Stormfly back to the direction of the clearing.

After taking the saddles off Meatlug and Barf and helping Eret take off the remaining two, Storm sat down on the ground, knowing that Hiccup’s and Astrid’s flight would take longer than any of theirs. Eret sat down near her, picking at some grass near him. He didn’t let the silence remain.

“I’m not your enemy?” he asked in a small voice, almost like he hoped she wouldn’t hear it. His demeanor unnerved Storm, as she knew him to be a prideful and confident person.

“No, you’re no longer a dragon trapper.”

“But that can’t be it,” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. “How can you just forget every battle we had?”

“I didn’t forget,” she explained, gripping his hands so she could lower them. “The person I see right now, is someone who risked his life for a tribe he did not know, I see a man who could’ve disappeared and forgotten about a debt that got him the life he had to leave. I look at you and I see someone who would make a great friend.”

Eret looked down at her hands that were still holding his. She noticed that too and quickly removed them, quietly sighing she laid down and observed the sky that was painted in the colors from the setting sun. He was still looking down at his hands, thinking about how, as far as he knew, that was the first time she touched him without meaning him harm, and the first time he hadn’t wanted to harm her in return.

Somehow he joined her in starwatching, he had been on the brink of falling asleep when her voice interrupted.

“A shooting star,” she said pointing up at the sky.

“Hmm?” he silently questioned.

“My brother and I tried to catch it every time we saw one,” she giggled, the noise foreign to his ears. “Sometimes we still try.”

Eret hummed in acceptance as they were once again enclosed in silence. That was how the other two found them when they landed. The pair jumped down from Stormfly, amused at the two laying on the ground. Hiccup chuckled to himself, he had thought that Storm would’ve scared the poor man away at this point. He took off his helmet, ruffling up his squashed hair.

“We should do this again, after you get even better,” he smiled at Astrid, hopefully conveying his truthful desire to fly with her again.

“Yeah, we should,” she replied, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. At this point Storm was sitting, her bent leg supporting her arm that was lazily holding her helmet. She saw the pair gazing at one another, a smile coming to rest on her face, she let them stare for a few ore moments before speaking.

“There was a shooting star.” Her voice startled them, Hiccup rubbed his neck, a nervous habit of his.

“I saw.”

“Wish for anything?” Her question made him glance at Astrid, who was removing Stormfly’s saddle, the moonlight was illuminating her blonde hair, making it seem like she glowed. Storm followed his gaze and could help it when her smile turned to a knowing smirk.

“Maybe I did,” he cheekily answered. “Did you?” He pointedly eyed Eret, who had actually fallen asleep. She looked at the sleeping man then back at Hiccup, her smirk mirroring the one on his face.

“Maybe.”

“Is he actually asleep?” Astrid’s voice reached them. She had her hands on her hips, looking down at Eret like a disappointed parent.

“I know, right?” Storm asked, Astrid smiled at the woman’s exuberated expression.

“Kick him,” came the playful voice of Hiccup, making both the women laugh. Astrid took the suggestion to heart and kicked the sleeping man in his shin, much to the amusement of the other two. Eret woke with a shout, and to his surprise found Astrid kicking him. He followed the sound of laughter to the ‘dragon demons’

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” he grumbled getting up from the ground. “Time to go?” he asked Astrid.

She nodded, with a goodbye they left the clearing and the snickering of the ‘demons’ behind. Neither Eret or Astrid talked during the walk back to the village, they both were lost in their own heads. They made their way to the Meade hall for some food and a chance to see the rest of the gang, both wanted to see what transpired with Snotlout and if he had lied to the Chief about what happened.

They reached the hall and got some food first before located their friends at one of the tables. They went over said their greetings and sat down. Snotlout still looked annoyed, Fishlegs was going over his notes from the conversation he had with the, Astrid’s dubbed, Dragon boy, and the twins were playing a card game. The late arrivals ate before asking anything, not that they had a chance as the Chief joined their table. All of the activity at the table ceased at the serious expression on Stoick’s face.

“After today’s mishap, I want to know everything about the training you received from the ‘demons’.” He barked, leaving no room for arguments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy my not-really-planned romance between Storm and Eret, because I sure do.


	22. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I think it would be best if we started from the beginning, how much do you actually know about the training we got?”

No one dared to speak first. Nervous glances were shared by all, excluding Stoick. It has been almost two weeks with the ‘Dragon demons’ in Berk and the training was happening every day. After the first few days the villagers stopped coming to watch the lessons, the pair used to quiz and give lessons by word, they did not go by Gobber’s teaching methods. There was no ‘Learning on the job’, at least not until today. The uneventful days deterred the villagers and by the time the first week ended no one came to watch the training and no one was there to report to Stoick.

After training the gang all had their own chores and what not, they never made time to find their Chief, who was always hard to find in the argument prone village. Stoick didn’t even know that they stopped getting lectures and started actually training, that they met their dragons, he didn’t know why they left to the clearing today. He didn’t know about the fact that the gang had seen the ‘demons’ faces. Those facts discouraged any of them from speaking, because they didn’t know how to begin. Stoick had become fed up with the silence from the group.

“Today,” he started, aggressively stabbing his finger on the table, “Snotlout found me to tell me you were going to some clearing in the woods with those two, then he came back saying he got threatened and beat up by the ‘demons’ for no reason. I want to know what kind of things they are doing, because if they think that they can get away with hurting my people they have another thing coming.”

Eret audibly snorted in disbelief, all eyes turned to him. They looked at him like he was crazy, Stoick was visibly angry and laughing at him would do no good.

“No offence, but what would you do to them if they did hurt someone for ‘no reason’?” Eret asked, he did not care that he seemed crazy. But it was clear that Fishlegs had failed to inform the Chief of what had actually happened. Astrid seemed to understand that also as she sent Fishlegs a questioning glare, the large man only avoided her eyes, and stared at the table with a guilty look.

“I would-I would-” Stoick suddenly stopped, the anger in his voice was unmistakable, but it was clear that he was finally thinking about the situation without an angry outlook.

He stopped to think. The fact was, that the moment that Snotlout had come to him saying that he was attacked without reason, Stoick saw red and ignored anyone else that tried to talk to him, including Fishlegs. He was only able to calm down with Gobber’s help.

“If somethin’ bad had happened, they all would’ve came back.” Gobber told him. And that eased the Chiefs mind for a while, until the twins came back alone. Then he saw Astrid and Eret enter the hall and sit down without talking to any of the people at the table, he became angry again, they left as a group and came back in pairs, something did happen. The atmosphere at the table was tense from the moment all of the young vikings sat down, that was obvious and his presence hadn’t helped. His voice was calmer when he spoke again.

“I need to know what happened today and how they are training you. Because that - ” he pointed at Sotlout’s shoulder that was in a splint, which neither Eret or Astrid had noticed. “ – doesn’t seem like normal training to me.”

“Snotlout lied,” Astrid was the first to speak, her heated glare pointed at Snotlout. “He didn’t get attacked for no reason, he was about to hurt Hookfang and the ‘demons’ stepped in.”

“Who’s Hookfang?” Stoick asked.

“My dragon.”

“Not anymore!” Cackled Tuffnut, his sister joining him.

“Did you see the look in their eyes? I’m disappointed that the worst you got was a sprained shoulder, because I was sure they were going to kill you!” The female twin continued cackling.

“They gave you dragons? Why was I not informed of this?” At his question Astrid cringed in shame as he was looking right at her when he asked. She was the leader if the group and it was her responsibility to keep the Chief up to date.

“You’re very hard to get a hold of and I thought that either one of us, or one of the villagers had told you,” she answered honestly, anxiously rubbing her hands together at the look that Stoick gave her. “But I see now that I was wrong.”

“Yes Chief, we all have dragons,” said Fishlegs, trying to get the conversation on track again. “At least we all had them this morning, but I’m not sure Snotlout has one anymore.” The man gave Snotlout an uncharacteristic glare, after all Fishlegs was the one that wanted to know as much about dragons as he could and if Snotlout’s stunt will cost them the valuable information, he would do something he would regret.

“What does that mean?” Stoick questioned, getting a bit annoyed, every question the group answered just raised more questions.

“I think it would be best if we started from the beginning, how much do you actually know about the training we got?” Astrid inquired, leaning on the table.

“The last thing I was told was that they were still lecturing you at the academy, which was a day before everyone left you alone at the arena.”

“Yeah, they were doing that for a while. They actually told us a lot about different dragons, some we didn’t know existed – “

“I wrote everything I could remember down after the lessons,” Fishlegs interrupted Astrid, he then put down his notebook on the table in front of Stoick. “I have it right here.”

Stoick picked up the notebook with interest. The best book about dragons in Berk was the Dragon manual and it taught how to kill, not like what Fishlegs had written down: hygiene habits, eating habits, mating practices, migration patterns. While not all of the dragons had that information written down, some of the dragons were only mentioned, it was still a lot of new information.

“You could write a new book with this,” the Chief commented. “It would be very valuable, and with your name on it, it would bring you status.”

“I know!” Fishlegs exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “It would be one of a kind and other tribes would wa-“

“Let me stop you right there.” Eret interrupted, he ignored the glare that the Chief sent him, and he knew that his behavior was out of line, but he did not care. “First, I did not take you as someone who stole other peoples’ work. Second, the people _you_ got this information from, probably already have a book like that and if they don’t it’s for good reason.”

“How do you know that?” Stoick asked skeptically. Actually all of the people at the table were giving him distrustful looks.

“It seems that you all forgotten that I was a dragon hunter just four weeks ago,” his voice betrayed his irritation. “That career path should come with a warning: ‘Getting the dragons won’t be your biggest problem, _keeping_ them will’. I used to see those two more than I saw land, and sometimes you don’t fight, sometimes you decide to talk.”

“What kind of wimpy dragon hunter were you?” Asked Snotlout with disdain.

“A sensible one,” Eret sneered back, he pointed at Fishlegs. “I’m not telling you to not do it, I’m just advising you to actually ask those two if you can. Lest you do it behind their backs and become in league with Snotlout.”

That seemed to scare Fishlegs a little, he would certainly not hold out with the murderous glares pinned to him. The ‘demons’ were his main (and only) way to learn about new dragons, at least until he got the hang of flying again, but then again, if the two didn’t let him relearn he would have no means to get the information himself.

“Okay, where was I?” asked Astrid, wanting to be done with the tense atmosphere that was created. “Oh, right. After about a week and a half the girl left and without explanation we were thrown into actual training, that was meant to help with our stamina, and it did help. We have to do those on our own now. Then the girl returned and we were introduced to our dragons.” She stopped making sure that Stoick was keeping up.

“You say introduced, we say reunited!” Ruffnut exclaimed. The others, except Tuffnut, stared at her in confusion. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

“They don’t!” gasped Tuffnut, then in fake anguish he cried. “How can you be so negligent to forget?”

“What is happening?” whispered Fishlegs, he got no answer as the others also had no idea.

“No wonder they left us the first time! Were we ever this careless?” cried Ruffnut in fake agony.

“Just tell us what you mean!” shouted Astrid, getting fed up with their acting. The twins suddenly stopped, looking unimpressed.

“The dragons we got?” started Tuffnut.

“Are the same ones that left us,” Ruffnut finished for him. Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ho-how…?” questioned Astrid, not really knowing what she was asking exactly.

“We were calling our dragon Barf and Belch before they left, and this dragon accepted the name very quickly, and honestly? The selection was the same, I mean how could you not notice?” rambled Tuffnut.

“That _is_ a weird coincidence,” mumbled Fishlegs. “It is a coincidence, right?” he asked the others. They gave reassuring nods, although none were actually sure. If it wasn’t a coincidence then the ‘Dragon demons’ had somehow figured out which dragons left, tacked them down, figured out which dragon was bonded to who… and that would be too much work for anyone.

“Ask them yourself the next time you see them. Now I would like to get some sleep tonight, so please, continue.” said Stoick.

“We... we were reunited with our dragons,” Astrid physically shook off the surprise from the earlier revelation. “We bonded for a bit, then-and then Hookfang accidently smacked Dragon boy into the wall of the academy, and-“ she nervously swallowed, “-and they took of their helmets…”

“WHAT?” Bellowed Stoick. “Why did none of you tell me this?” he demanded and was met with fearful silence. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. “Next time tell me immediately if something like this happens again.”

He got mumbles of agreement. He decided to not say anything else in that department, he knew that this was stressful for all of them as much as it was stressful for him, and he didn’t need to see the ‘demons’ daily like the gang did. He gestured for Astrid to continue as she still hadn’t explained what happened with Snotlout.

“The helmet thing happened yesterday,” she said, her tone was a bit defensive. “And today we got to fly with our dragons. It was so amazing to be in the air again!” her enthusiasm was shared with almost everyone at the table.

“Speak for yourself, those two didn’t let me fly for no reason,” Snotlout stated, and the gang couldn’t understand if he seriously thought that the ‘demons’ had no reason.

“There was a reason,” Fishlegs stated plainly.

“They were showing us how to properly fly with the saddles that they had and they were observing our knowledge and skill we still had, or in Eret’s case, how we handled flying. We had to call our dragons to us and get on them ourselves, which involved asking the dragons if we could fly with them, and Snotlout…” Astrid stopped talking, she didn’t know how to explain that Snotlout had royally messed up.

“He started shouting at Hookfang, his Nightmare, and tried to get on him without the dragon’s permission, that was the start of his mistakes,” Eret took over, seeing Astrid struggle for words. “Then, after Hookfang caught on fire so Snotlout couldn’t touch him, Snotlout started shouting more and when the Nightmare didn’t react, this one-“ Eret pointed at Snotlout, who looked angry that the group didn’t lie to save his ass, after all Snotlout was the heir and what he did reflected on the village. “-thought that it would be smart to punch the dragon.”

“We were all watching this happen, I asked the ‘demons’ if we should do something, but they didn’t answer me. They were just standing there, their faces were set in this murderous expression – “

“Then once Snotlout raised his hand, they both moved and BAM!” Tuffnut interrupted.

“The man had caught Snot’s fist and was holding him immobilized!” Ruffnut recounted with wonder in her voice. “Then the female ‘demon’ literally growled at Snotlout asking him what he was doing. Their eyes were full of murder, it was awesome.” She let out a dreamy sigh.

“The he did mistake number two happened,” continued Eret, the least affected of the group, as even Stoick was looking at the gang in concern. “He insinuated that the dragons were servants. And let me tell you they did not like that.” Eret let out a humorless chuckle, the reality of what could have been catching up to him.

“If they are that dangerous, I’m not sure I want you to continue your training.” Slowly said Stoick, seeing the various looks of fear on the young faces. What caught his eye was that Eret, who had the most experience with the ‘demons’, didn’t seem afraid, he seemed tired. He met the ex-hunter’s eyes and Eret shook his head.

“No, we should continue training, they weren’t angry at us for his mistakes that means that they want to help, and Snotlout still has a chance at riding Hookfang. And to tell the truth, he got off easy.” Eret said lost in thought.

“I wrote down what they told him when I reached the village, that’s why I couldn’t try to speak to you until after Snotlout did Chief,” said Fishlegs. “They said something along the lines of: ‘Until you go down on your knees and beg Hookfang for forgiveness, you’re not getting in the saddle.’”

“The choice of begging is up to you,” Stoick forced out. “But lying is unacceptable, regardless of how you handle the training, you will complete any given task in the village without complain, am I understood?” he angrily asked the cowering man.

“Yes Chief,” came a mumble.

“Hmm, I would like a meeting with the ‘demons’ in the future,” Stoick said after a second. “Ask them when they can meet with me and report to me when you have their answer.”

Stoick left the table, and its occupants deep in thought. The day finally caught up to all of them and one by one they left the table. The day’s exciting and frightful events wouldn’t let them get much sleep, but maybe they all needed the time to think about everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would've had this out sooner, but I did have to re-read this work and come up with a comprehensive time-line for this and future chapters. The next chapter will be gang-centric too. Hope you still enjoy!


	23. Right? part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right?

Snotlout was the first to leave the table. He was annoyed at the others, they were _his_ friends and they should’ve covered for him. So what if he did something bad? He didn’t do it to them! Or any person for that matter. All he did was try to discipline his dragon and he got a dislocated – it was _dislocated_ Ruffnut, not _sprained_! – shoulder because of it.

A dislocated shoulder, Thor knows how many weeks of doing chores around the village and nightmares were the things he got today. Those stupid ‘Dragon demons’. What did they know about keeping dragons? They showed only kindness to the dragons and they still needed to ask for permission to ride them! Well Snotlout showed only kindness once and his dragon left!

But… the ‘demons’ got him back. It didn’t matter if they knew it or not, they got him the dragon that was his true companion back to him. Hookfang was the one thing that was left from the past, the one thing that could remind Snotlout of his cousin.

His cousin. Hiccup. The name no one had the courage to say in public. After his cousin left, the dragons soon followed.

Snotlout got three months of happiness with his dragon, before the dragon left. During the three months Snotlout did everything he could to make the dragon happy and he still _left_. Crying was something he hadn’t done since he was seven, but after his Nightmare left… Snotlout cried. Alone in his room, in the middle of the night when no one could see or hear him. During one of these nights Snotlout promised himself that he would not lose another friend like that, he thought that being nice was not the answer.

Snotlout had forgotten about that promise long ago, but the ‘demons’ unwittingly reminded him of it. He looked at their faces and something reminded him of his cousin. Of the skinny, clumsy boy that held dragons closer than family. Snotlout was reminded of his promise and that led to him being ‘suspended’ from training. He was actually happy that that was the worst of his punishment, the look he saw in the female’s eyes…

It’s not like they can keep him from training. He was the heir! Snotlout would let the pair cool down for a few days and then he will give them a half-assed apology and they will let him right back into training! Right?

The twins were the second ones to leave. They were still excited about the day’s events. The fight they witnessed and the flying was keeping their adrenaline up. The fact that they were the only ones to notice that the dragons weren’t new was awesome too.

The energy would be the thing keeping them up. They didn’t have a lot to think about, not like the others, well maybe they did need to figure out what kind of pranks they could pull on the ‘demons’ and not get killed. Because other than that, the twins weren’t afraid of the pair, and the pair seemed to value their presence.

When the twins had asked to have their lesson before Astrid, they were not hopeful. They were surprised when the ‘demons’ agreed and let them go first. And the lesson wasn’t boring, the twins did great. Ruffnut was genuinely surprised when they didn’t get scolded for their shitty landing, but the ‘demons’ decided to fill the day with surprises.

The first surprise, to the twins, was that the clearing was a real place and the ‘demons’ didn’t take the gang to the middle of the woods to get rid of them. Then the female ‘demon’ knew they wanted to scare her and didn’t say anything, which meant that she had a sense of humor and by extend the male one did too. The twins knew that the pair had a strong presence and a reputation to match, but seeing the two work was another thing entirely.

“If we ask, do you think they would teach us how to move that fast?” Tuffnut asked his sister.

“They should, I mean that is training. Right?” 

Fishlegs hurried to his home. He left just after the twins. He still wanted to go over all of his notes and try guessing what classifications that the dragons could be. He was deep in thought, mostly about Eret’s earlier words. _‘The people you got this information from, probably already have a book like that.’_ That was true, he knew that, but still. He wanted to do something for dragons just as _someone_ had done just five years ago.

Fishlegs couldn’t stop the war between dragons and humans, but he could write a book so people would know how to take care of different breeds. That was what he was good at and he would put their names on the book also! 

_‘_ _Lest you do it behind their backs and become in league with Snotlout.’_

Remembering those words made Fishlegs shiver in fear. With the way the ‘demons’ hold themselves and with the fact that they were smaller than the average viking would mean that they were weaker. The way they acted in the clearing proved that they were not existing under normal viking rules, after all they lived with dragons.

The ‘Dragon demons’ showed themselves to be very smart people. Fishlegs still couldn’t figure out how they knew about the meeting or how they appeared in the mist that day. He was a little embarrassed to admit that until he saw their faces he thought that they _were_ some kind of demons, not people who chose a different life than normal. They were people who understood the importance of freely given information.

Fishlegs decided to ask them if he could create the book he wanted to. The pair was made up of intellectual individuals and they would certainly agree. Right?

Stoick had left the table and its occupants a while ago. Now, nursing a cup of ale, he could help but think about how ridiculous his life had become. Five years ago he pushed away the only family he had because he couldn’t believe that living with dragons was possible, he lost his son and now he was desperate for help, from people who lived with dragons.

Dragons had saved them before, multiple times and the moment he had decided that living with them wouldn’t be a bad thing and ordered the (at the time) teens to go find his son, the dragons left. And so had the opportunity to find his son. He still tried, but after two years of voyages and no news he gave up, because no ship could reach as far as a dragon could.

Fishleg’s notebook, full of dragons no one in the archipelago had heard about, had restored hope in the Chief. Those ‘demons’ had been further than anyone else he knew, they have seen dragons others had a hard time imagining, they surely met people. Maybe, just maybe, they met Hiccup. Maybe they knew where he was. The ‘demons’ had agreed to help. They were good people as long as dragons were treated with respect. If he asked and they knew something, they would tell him. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short, and the next one will probably be too. The word 'Right' has started to feel weird to me. The chapters with the 'demons' will surely be refreshing after this, right?


	24. Right? Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right?

Astrid left before Eret did. After all, she had a family who would be wondering where she was. Like the others, her head didn’t want to be silent. Her thoughts weren’t focused on the fight like many would believe. Well she did think about it a little, a bit in fear, but more so amazement. She had heard Eret’s stories, but after seeing the people behind the helmets she couldn’t believe that everything was true. Until today, that is.

The ‘Dragon demons’ had this dynamic that made them seem just like everyone else. Take away their armor and they would not seem threatening, they would be just two siblings traveling the world, they would _seem_ defenseless.

Astrid would never admit it, but she was ready to jump to Hookfang’s defense, she would have been too late to stop the punch, but she would have plummeted Snotlout to the ground. She didn’t need to do that, because the ‘demons’ stopped him faster and better than she ever could and she thought that that was amazing. She now knew that Eret’s stories were true.

But that was not what was keeping her awake. Those eyes. Those forest green eyes were the bane of her existence. When Eret and the female ‘demon’ left she spent the time just looking at Dragon boy, who was vigilantly answering all of Fishleg’s questions. Those same eyes that made her dizzy with thoughts and memories. The determination she saw in them, after he told Snotlout that he will have to beg for forgiveness, was the same determination she once saw in… Hiccup.

No, no… she would not go down that thought path. Hiccup left, he didn’t return and believing he was dead was better than knowing that he just didn’t want to come back to her – no, not _her_ \- to Berk. He left and so had the dragons. The world she believed was once possible was disappearing right before her eyes. After years of nothing, her hope had disappeared too.

But the dragons came back. After the twins told them that the ones in the clearing were, in fact, the ones that left, the hope she hadn’t felt in so long came back too. If the dragons came back, maybe Hiccup could come back.

She would be the first one to admit that she had hoped that Hiccup was a part of the ‘Dragon demons’. The role was practically build for him! Living with dragons, helping them, fighting the injustice against them, just like he had fought the Red death.

 _‘At least there’s no nest to ruin the moment.’_ The words bounced around in her head. Why did Dragon boy say that? How could he have known about the nest and her flight with Hiccup? Unless, the ‘Dragon demons’ had met Hiccup and he told them about Berk. Or maybe Dragon boy _was_ Hiccup. What a thought! She must be more tired than she thought if she had these kinds of thoughts… Wait.

 _‘Brother, he’s my brother.’_ Dragon boy’s _sister_ had once corrected her. Hiccup had no sister. And why would Hiccup come back to Berk and not tell anyone? Dragon boy couldn’t be Hiccup.

_‘She’s amazing... you’re amazing.’_

There was no way Hiccup was already back. Right?

Eret was the last to leave the table. He had been given one abandoned hut in the village and he was not in a hurry to go back to that lonely place. Nothing was tying him to Berk, well almost nothing. The others and he had become somewhat friends. They still looked at him in distrust sometimes and he had the position of an unwanted guest. He had to work for everything in his spare time, firewood, food, other necessities were his payment. He had some money with him, but he was saving it, because when everything will be over, he would be leaving Berk. Because he wanted to leave Berk. At least that was what he told himself.

He had nothing out there, but he had nothing in Berk too. But at the moment he had some _one_ in Berk. Someone who believed in him, believed that he could be a great friend even after everything he had done. When she looked at him, he never saw distrust in her eyes. Even when she had dragged him back to Berk and away from a fresh start, her eyes were never clouded in distrust or hatred.

The fight, well more accurately _beating_ , the ‘demons’ gave Snotlout proved one thing: if she had wanted to, she could’ve hurt him at any point during his first flight, dump him in the ocean and say he fell off. He knew that the pair were formidable enemies. One step ahead, and when it came to dragons, prepared to do anything to save them.

She didn’t think he was an enemy anymore. Maybe if he asked they would let him follow them, becoming a part of the ‘Dragon demons’ was starting to sound like something he would enjoy. She believed in him and he believed in her, even when they were fighting on every turn. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that she was ready to forget everything they put each other through.

 _‘Every interaction we had before Berk was marked by a battle, how is that not being enemies?’_ he had said.

 _‘Not every interaction.’_ She had shot back. As far as he remembered, even when the two of them weren’t fighting, there was always a battle. Always. His entire dragon trapper career was marked by battle after battle, fight after fight. The only time of peace he remembered was _before_ he chose to follow Drago. And there was no way they knew each other from that time of his life. Right?

Come tomorrow, no one from the table will be rested. Their thoughts and emotions too jumbled up to get decent rest. Too many questions, so little trust for those who have the answers. For now the answer for all of the questions was time that was the one truth everyone understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fast. I hope you enjoyed some insight into the heads of the gang. Honestly, the next chapter should be out soon too, because this work is how I avoid responsibilities.  
> Also, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first chapter that I posted not in the middle of the night. Go me!


	25. Quiet hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You are violent.” He slowly said, putting emphasis on every word.

“You think Snotlout’s going to show up today?”

“Not likely.”

“Why do you say that? He is very stubborn, wouldn’t put it past him to march in and demand to be let into training again.”

“Oy, Chief, the troll had tears in his eyes. You _were_ behind him and didn’t see it, but I honestly thought he was going to soil himself, from fear or from pain I don’t know.”

“Fuck,” he sighed, “I never wanted to be like Snotlout, but I became just like him. I hurt someone just because I could…”

“Yeah, no. Stop.” Storm commanded, stopping Hiccup in his tracks. It was just before sunrise, it was still dark out, but the dejected expression on his face was unmistakable. She stood in front of him and made him look into her eyes. “You are nothing like him. You had a good reason to do what you did, he was lucky it was _you_ who restrained him, because I wouldn’t have been as nice as you were.”

“You _are_ very violent,” he joked with a small smile on his face. They continued their way to the academy, Storm scoffed.

“You want to say that again?” She asked in mock anger. He laughed, knowing that she was just joking, he turned to her as they entered the academy.

“ _You are violent_.” He slowly said, putting emphasis on every word. Her eyes widened, she frowned, keeping up the act of being angry.

“Do you want to run laps around the arena until your prosthetic breaks?” She demanded, jabbing a finger into his chest. “You know I can make you do that.”

“Yeah, I know,” he answered, a mocking smirk on his lips. He crossed his arms, walking away from her. He looked back, throwing her the same smirk. “Have you thanked Eret for that ability, by any chance?”

“You little shit!” she yelped dropping her act, her mouth open in surprise. She wasted no time and started to run at him, he saw her coming and started to run away from her. Their laughter filled the early morning air as Storm chased him around the arena. She finally managed to jump on his back, bringing them both down to the ground. They wrestled for a while, Storm coming out on top. She had Hiccup in a choke hold and only released him when he tapped out.

She fell backwards, they laid there giggling like little kids, catching their breath. Hiccup rose first, he felt weak from all of the laughter, but managed to stand up. He was helping Storm up when the gang (minus Snotlout) entered the arena.

“Wow, you look like shit,” Storm couldn’t help but exclaim, Hiccup silently nodded, agreeing whole heartedly with her statement. Usually the group was used to waking early, but now they looked like they hadn’t had any sleep. They were continuously yawning and stretching, the bags under all of their eyes didn’t help their overall appearance.

“Was there a part we weren’t invited to last night?” Hiccup joked. He saw them glare in his direction, he held up his hands in surrender.

“We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” mumbled Tuffnut.

“I didn’t notice,” whispered Hiccup rolling his eyes, Storm heard him and stifled a laugh behind her hand. The pair let the gang have ten minutes of peace so that they could wake up a bit more. After that Hiccup gathered their attention and started to explain their plan for the day, that mostly consisted of the simple plan to go and fly some more.

“But considering you look like you’re ready to drop. We will sacrifice an hour of the morning to answer any question you may have from yesterday’s training.”

Somehow the group found themselves sitting on the ground in the same way as the day before. The twins were leaning against one another and were out like a light as soon as they reached the ground, the others were no better. Storm clapped her hands to get their attention, they barely registered it and the twins were dead to the world.

“Okay, we _can_ work with this, right?” Storm asked Hiccup. He mutely nodded, yet looked unconvinced.

“Do you have questions?” Hiccup questioned after a few minutes of silence from the trainees. Tire grunts were his answer. He rolled his eyes, shuffled a bit closer to the middle of the circle and whispered in a dangerous tone. “If you don’t ask questions, you will be running laps around the arena until the hour is up. This is training not nap time. Okay?” He gave a small nod, a smug smile on his face.

The awake ones if the group sat straighter at the threat. Hiccup shared a look with Storm as the gang tried to think of something to ask. The pair tried not to laugh at the panicked expressions on their students faces. Suddenly Astrid’s eyes lit up and she pointed her finger at the pair.

“I do have a question! It’s not training related but…” she cringed, not knowing if the ‘demons’ would be okay with her asking something unrelated to the lesson. They simultaneously gestured for her to go on, in the creepy way that they sometimes did things. She chucked it up to them living their entire lives together and picking up each other’s mannerisms. “The Chief asked for a meeting with you two.”

“That’s not even a question.“ They said at the same time, in the same sarcastic tone. They shared a look, before Storm addressed Astrid.

“What time is he thinking?”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, this thing we have in Berk is like a very fragile temporary alliance. We have to keep both sides happy, and we do have somethings to talk about with him.”

“He didn’t specify a time, just asked me to ask you,” Astrid said, gesturing to both of them. Hiccup swept his calculating gaze across the gang, he then nodded to himself.

“Our requests can wait for a bit, ask him if it’s convenient for him to have the meeting in three days, in the evening after practice, his preferred place of course,” he said giving her a casual smirk. Astrid nodded at him and nudged Fishlegs asking him for a piece of parchment to write everything down.

“Why do they get to sleep?” Asked Eret as he pointed to the twins with a grumpy look on his face. A mischievous smirk appeared on Storm’s lips.

“Don’t worry about them, I’ll wake them up later.”

Storm’s answer seemed to satisfy Eret. The look on her face helped him understand that she was letting them sleep not from the good of her hearth, she had something planned and he would rather stay out of it. The gang were more awake now, but they still had time to just relax, seeing that no one was asking anything Storm rolled her eyes, she knew that she could make them run laps, but just sitting down was far more appealing for her. She sparred a glance at Hiccup, who was also content to be just relaxing.

“Just the one ‘question’?” Hiccup asked the gang, he noticed Storm eyeing them all and knew that his threat of making them run laps was void, he just didn’t want to sit in silence because then _he_ would become sleepy, and with their plan of going flying that was not ideal. “So why don’t we ask you something? You cool with that?”

He got affirmative responses from all of them, even Fishlegs, who looked like he wanted to ask something from the very beginning, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. No matter, he would either forget his question, figure the answer out himself or grow some balls and finally ask them.

“So,” started Storm, “I’ve noticed that my dearest brother here, has been dubbed ‘Dragon boy’ by you lot. And I’m sitting here, just wondering if I didn’t leave a good enough impression to get a nickname. To tell the truth I’m a little hurt by the fact.” She pulled of the hurt look so well, that Hiccup almost believed it. He knew that she was messing with the group and he loved the innocent fun that was watching the various emotions cross their faces.

“Ah, well, honestly…” Fishlegs tried to say something, but he was clearly panicking and the other two awake ones were trying to have a conversation just with their eyes, and they were failing, miserably. Storm couldn’t contain her laughter anymore and Hiccup joined her after seeing the gangs shocked faces when she started laughing.

“Let’s start with this,” she said between her barely contained laughter. “What do you call us when you’re speaking about us?”

“The… ‘demons’?” Astrid’s statement came out as a question. The pair shared a satisfied look, they liked that their reputation exceeded them.

“I know we told you that you could call us _‘Whatever you like’_ , but we expected you to at least ask us our names!” Hiccup said with laughter in his voice, he raised his hand stopping Eret from doing just that. “No, no that is off the table now. I’ve been nicknamed ‘Dragon boy’, that stays, you cannot change that, but my sister doesn’t have a nickname, so…”

“Guess.” Storm finished for him. The first one to guess was Fishlegs.

“Oleander?”

“Nope.”

“Helga?” came Astrid’s guess.

“Nah.”

“Sif?” guessed Fishlegs again.

“No.” They went at this for a good ten minutes, with no luck until Eret suggested a name that made the pair laugh again.

“Valkyrie?” A barely there blush made its way on Storm’s cheeks, only Hiccup noticed it, his smile widened. The nickname was given to her by a man they had met on their travels, the man knew her real name, but said: ‘A beauty such as this deserves no lesser title that Valkyrie!’ The memory still made her blush.

“Points to you, because that was a nickname she was once given,” he said, making Storm hit him in the shoulder so he would shut up.

“Shadow?” Eret tried again.

“That’s my dragon’s name!” she chuckled, the smiles on the pair’s faces started to look like they belonged there.

“Your name is not Astrid, is it?” cautiously asked Astrid.

“Ah, the name meaning beautiful and loved. While the name doesn’t lie and describes the person perfectly, that’s not her name.” Hiccup answered looking directly into Astrid’s eyes, making her blush. Storm eyed him from the side lines, determined to remember this interaction for later purposes of making him regret bringing up the ‘Valkyrie’ thing.

“I know I have heard your name before!” exclaimed Eret, he looked desperate to figure it out. Which was really funny to the pair, for _some_ reason.

“Yeah, you have. Now remember it,” Storm teased him. She then looked up to the sky and sighed. “Okay, guessing’s done for the day, we need to get to training. Don’t wake them up.”

Her words stopped Fishlegs in his tracks as he was about to shake the twins awake as they miraculously stayed sleeping through all of the noise. Storm picked up her helmet from the ground, where they ended up.

“Put your helmet on Chief, this might attract people,” she told Hiccup, who did just that. “Astrid, mind helping me?"

“What with?” the viking asked with a puzzled look on her face. Storm went to her and whispered something in her ear, making Astrid’s face light up with a mischievous smile. “Sure, I’d be happy to help!”

“We’ll be right back boys, don’t leave and don’t wake them,” Storm called to them. She and Astrid made their way out of the arena, giggling along the way.

“Mischief?” Eret questioned a confused Hiccup. Hiccup raised an eyebrow in question before it dawned on him, he answered with a laugh.

“No, that’s not her name. Sure fits her though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, this chapter was supposed to go somewhere. But, hey, sometimes you don't write the work, the work writes itself!


	26. Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Payback for Loki day!” Astrid answered between her laughter.

The girls came back fairly quickly, both were carrying a bucket of freezing water each. Storm was right, hauling buckets of freezing water peaked some people’s interest and a small group of viking were following the two. Storm tilted her head in question at Astrid, who mouthed back ‘I got this.’ Hiccup was confused as to what the twins had done to deserve that fate, he didn’t have time to ask, as the girls stood at either side of the sleeping pair and at the quiet count to three poured the water straight on the twins’ heads.

They leaped up with a shriek, much to the amusement of everybody that witnessed the act. The soaking wet twins were very confused, to say the least. Ruffnut frantically looked around, and when she saw the two girls laughing while still holding the buckets, she knew she found the culprits.

“YOU!” She yelled gaining the attention of her equally soaked brother. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?”

“Payback for Loki day!” Astrid answered between her laughter. Ruffnut shook some of the water off, with a frown she accepted the answer, remembering how on Loki day she and Tuffnut had managed to trip her into a barrel of fish.

“WHAT ABOUT YOU?!” Tuffnut yelled pointing at Storm, who had tears in her eyes from all of her laughing. Tuffnut shook his head like a wet dog while still glaring at her. Storm took a few second to stop chuckling, she took a calming breath and schooled her features, not that it mattered with the helmet on.

“This is how you scare someone awake Tuff,” her lips stretched into a smug smile. “Honestly, you two sleep like dead, I wasn’t sure it was going to work!”

The twins shocked faces almost made her start laughing again, but she managed to hold herself together. She didn’t know it, but she gained respect from them, not that they were ever going to tell her that, and they were defiantly getting her back for this. Respect or not, Ruffnut and Tuffnut _were_ the best pranksters around.

“Okay! Show’s over people, we have work to do and so do you!” Hiccup’s voice carried to the gathered crowd, he didn’t know if the village knew that the trainees had dragons, but regardless he knew that in the early stages of the bond the less people were around to distract the batter. The vikings left with minimal grumbles.

“Come on, you’ll dry off on the way to the clearing.”

Storm thanked Astrid for her help again and let her lead the group to the clearing. Hiccup and Storm naturally fell behind the group. They lifted their helmets once they were deeper into the woods, Storm noticed that Hiccup was limping and looked at him in concern.

“It’s nothing,” he reassured her, “a nail is coming a bit loose I think.”

“No pain?” she asked seriously.

“No, and I’ll look at it tonight. I do not what to repeat the last time,” he snorted at the memory of the, at the time, harrowing experience.

When the outcasts had first heard of the pair they had been young, didn’t even have the title of ‘Dragon demons’, but they had started going around islands, helping dragons as much as they could. They didn’t have a lot to their name and were just surviving. They had been having problems for a while when Storm had fallen ill, one of the problems that they were ignoring was Hiccup’s limping, but considering it didn’t hurt he never looked closer at his leg or prosthetic. They had found a friendly healer that told them the cure for Storm’s illness was found on Outcast island, Hiccup hadn’t wasted any time and took off as soon as he knew what he was looking for, leaving Storm to the care of the healer.

He regretted never looking into his limping as soon as his prosthetic had, basically, fallen apart while riding Toothless. They had crash landed on Outcast island, Toothless’ flying gear was intact, but without a leg Hiccup couldn’t operate the system, so they were stuck. Until some outcast had found them, Hiccup ordered Toothless to run and the dragon did so, going against his instincts to protect Hiccup until his death. Toothless knew that Hiccup could handle himself at this point, and having one of them free gave them a better chance of escaping later on.

So Hiccup was presented to Alvin as the dragon conqueror, the outcasts that found him freely telling everyone how he had scared away a never before seen dragon. Alvin, in his own truly dumb fashion, had ordered Hiccup to banish all of the dragons off of Outcast island, and promised Hiccup the payment of Toothless’ head. Ignoring the utter disgust Hiccup agreed, with a very small cost beforehand, considering he could not walk without a leg, he requested the use of the outcasts forge.

Alvin had agreed, but sent a pair if guards with him. He didn’t sleep through the night and build himself a good enough leg from memory. He made sure to sabotage the forge, and maybe steel some of the money he found while looking for equipment, and slipped out of the forge, the guards had fallen asleep long ago. Hiccup found Toothless near the outcast village, they managed to evade the search parties sent out to find the Night Fury, got the needed ingredients and didn’t look back as they left near dawn.

They got back to Storm and she was fine after taking the medicine, obviously. Hiccup had taken the money he _borrowed_ and managed to buy everything he needed to build back his prosthetic and build a matching one for Storm, who at the time had a Gobber-esque peg leg. After that Hiccup never ignored any change in his prosthetic and never let Storm ignore her own either. But something else had come from this too, after Hiccup felt guilty for borrowing, Outcast island had become the first and most dangerous place for their _spy-and-goodbye_ project. They spent months on Outcast island, learning everything about the dragons there and slowly driving them to safer places.

Storm laughed with Hiccup, remembering how he had told the story and painted Alvin as a complete idiot. She suddenly stopped and gave a deep irritated sigh before groaning.

“Shit,” she drawled out. “We need a day off.” Hiccup blinked a few times before the source of her irritation dawned on him.

“Oh fuck,” he cursed. “We’ve been laughing almost all the time since we woke up! I just _love_ it when the sleep deprivation catches up to us.” He said in the most sarcastic tone he could muster up.

“We do this as fast as we possibly can, then go to sleep,” Storm said as they reached the clearing. They had fallen behind the group a lot, as the dragons were already saddled by their trainees. Hookfang was without his saddle, so Hiccup went to saddle him and check the other’s work on their own dragons while Storm told everyone the plan for the lesson.

“Today we will be doing some easy flying maneuvers because you’re still getting used to your dragons, you will help your dragons to gather food for themselves, which means getting wet and getting fish. Word of advice: don’t try to chase the fish too deep, because the deeper you go the colder it gets, while the sun has warmed the top of the water somewhat.”

“You’ll be flying on your own,” Hiccup said coming up behind Storm, having checked on every saddle. “We’ll be flying on Hookfang. After you’re in the air above the ocean, get as close to the water as you can, we won’t be behind you and your dragons are not going to be as alert as they would be if a danger is present, so if you accidently fall, you won’t get injured from a smaller distance.”

“Saddle up and take off!”

The group managed to take off without problem, they soon reached the ocean. Storm was behind Hiccup on Hookfang, so she had the job of giving the gang tasks. First, she ordered the gang to fly in a line formation, the hard part for them was figuring out the order the dragons went in. The first mistake was letting Meatlug fly in front of Barf and Belch, Meatlug could barely keep up with Skullcrusher who was second in the line and the twins got bored going at the slowest pace, so they decided to dunk themselves in the ocean, repeatedly, which while not actually causing harm, was distracting.

Hiccup, with the help of Hookfang’s roar, managed to get their attention, and Storm managed to get them in line, literally. Next came the sea stacks. From Hiccup’s personal experience, flying through sea stacks, at the fastest pace you can manage and trying not to die helped to get comfortable on dragon back like nothing else could. The trainees got ahold of it fairly quickly, Eret did manage to fall off of Skullcrusher into the ocean, but he was swiftly retrieved. They stayed at the sea stacks until about midday, by the time the gang could navigate the course with their eyes closed, but not at their highest speed.

Lunch was once again marked by a lot of laughter, from all involved. Fishlegs got off easy, Meatlug didn’t need fish at all and he could skip getting soaked repeatedly and had flown off to one of the more rocky sea stack so Meatlug could eat. Tuffnut managed to catch a fish with his mouth, the proceeded to take a bite out of it to everyone’s, except Hiccup’s, disgust.

The dragons were sated and Fishlegs had returned when the pair decided to end the training for the day. On the way back Storm kept looking around the sky and finally after having enough she stopped all of the dragons and urged Hiccup to fly up, much to the confusion of everyone.

“What are you looking for?” Hiccup asked when they were far up in the sky away from the others. She looked around a couple more times.

“A storm is coming,” she finally said.

“Please sis, not with me here!” he said with a laugh. She gaged in disgust shoving him forwards.

“Your thought process is revolting.”

“What’s wrong?” came Astrid’s yell from behind them. The gang had followed them up after they didn’t come down fast enough.

“Nothing! A storm will be coming, probably sometime this evening!” Storm yelled back, and slapped Hiccup on the back of his head when he decided to chuckle.

“STORM!” Eret shouted, his face lit up like he won the best price in existence.

“That’s what I said!” she confirmed with confusion.

“NO!” he excitedly pointed at her. “YOUR NAME! STORM!”

“Congratulations! You win nothing!” She said with a small giggle. Hiccup rolled his eyes fondly.

“Figures he’d be the one to figure it out,” he said quietly so only Storm could hear him. She huffed in irritation, reached over to direct Hookfang so he was above Stormfly.

“Hey Astrid! Catch!” That was the only warning either got before Storm showed Hiccup off of Hookfang and onto Stormfly. Storm took off in the direction of Berk. Hiccup quickly righted himself, firmly holding onto Astrid.

“After her!” He urged, his voice breaking everyone out of the shock of what happened, nobody was expecting him to get shoved off and be okay afterwards, but he clearly was. The gang all took off with Storm in the lead, laughter was heard all the way back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sleep schedule is fucked up. Hope you enjoyed!


	27. Lightning strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” He sincerely apologized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely hope this has plot, because if not, this is a long ass filler chapter. I can’t even tell what plot is at this point, I’m sorry.

After the whole pushing Hiccup off of Hookfang debacle, Storm led the chase to the arena, where, surprisingly, Snotlout was waiting for them. The man was all ready to give a half-assed apology and get back into training, because ‘I saw how miserable you were without me.’

Hiccup had calmly pointed out that it hadn’t been even a full day without him, but let Snotlout apologize. Which he did, very badly. His condescending mumble of ‘I’m sorry’ that was directed at Hiccup and Storm did nothing but make him receive harsh glares from both.

Considering his shoulder was already out of the splint, he couldn’t claim that his injury was stopping him from begging his heart out. His injury wouldn’t have bothered him in the first place, his shoulder was placed in a splint as a _precaution_ and after a good night’s rest and the morning off, Snotlout had to go to Gothi to have it taken off. Coming down from the old woman’s hut was when he saw the others flying around the sea stacks, having fun it seemed, but Snotlout _knew_ that couldn’t be true, his friends were always miserable without him. So he decided to be the bigger person and give the ‘demons’ their apology so his friends wouldn’t have to suffer without him.

He ended up on his knees, almost crying, promising Hookfang five barrels of his favorite fish and the best pedicure in the known world. The Nightmare accepted the apology, with the clause that the dragon could light Snotlout’s ass on fire anytime he wanted to, of course no one but Hookfang knew of the hidden clause. He was permitted to join the next training lesson, although his unsupervised time with Hookfang was still suspended.

While Snotlout was apologizing, Hiccup had taken the time to inspect his prosthetic and found that the problem was a loose nail, just as he had thought. They had overlooked these kind of problems while packing to come to Berk and he had no spare nails to fix his prosthetic with, so he decided to use the gang as a cover of sorts and go to the village, the forge more precisely.

Hiccup knew that him walking alone, or with Storm, around the village would make a lot of people suspicious, and considering vikings weren’t known for their smarts, the pair would most likely be attacked, regardless if they were helping Berk or not. Storm agreed to stay at the academy and get the dragons used to being in the cages again. Hiccup insisted he would help Astrid take back the buckets that Storm had borrowed that morning and drop by the forge on his way back to the academy.

“My knight in night-like armor,” Astrid joked.

“Anything for you, milady,” Hiccup answered seriously.

Astrid spent the walk to the village with her head down trying to hide her blush. Hiccup had blushed as soon as the words had left his mouth, but his helmet helped to hide it so he kept looking straight ahead. He didn’t know why he had said that, other than his ever persistent need to make Astrid like him. He didn’t speak until they needed to say goodbye, and even then he had only weakly told her to tell everyone about the incoming storm and be ready in case it was bad.

He barely stopped himself from running away from the awkwardness he felt. He almost forgot to stop by the forge, but the clanking from the forge made him remember. He found it strange that Gobber was working in silence, especially in the middle of the day when nobody would complain of the noise.

Hiccup felt nostalgic standing at the hatch of the forge. He silently watched the smith work for a while, reigning in his want to jump into the forge and check every nock and cranny to find out what had changed in his absence. Hiccup was content to stand there and wait for the smith to notice him, which he did with a startle and dropped the sword he was fixing on the ground.

“Dear Thor! Are you tryin’ to kill me?” Gobber had yelled, clenching his chest with his good hand. That gained the attention of vikings that were passing by, they stopped what they were doing to see what Hiccup would do next and if Gobber would need saving. Hiccup pretended like he didn’t notice.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” He sincerely apologized. Gobber’s eyes narrowed.

“Well you did. What did you want anyway?” The smith asked while picking up the fallen weapon and putting it on coals again. Gobber hobbled his way to the hatch so he could speak to Hiccup better.

“A nail, if you can spare one.”

“You need a single nail?” came the confused question accompanied by Gobber’s raised eyebrows.

“Yes,” Hiccup stepped back from the hatch and raised his left leg, pointing at it in explanation. “For this, need to repair it as soon as possible.”

“I’m busy right now, but if you come back later maybe I’ll be able to help,” Gobber tried to dismiss him and was ready to go back to work, but five years did not diminish Hiccup’s stubbornness.

“Gobber,” Hiccup called, forgetting for a moment that the smith hadn’t introduced himself. “I would like to do this before the storm hits, I’ll pay you whatever you want.”

“What storm?” asked Gobber with a suspicious glare.

“A storm is coming at Berk, sometime in the evening or early night.” Hiccup calmly stated. There was a snort from the villagers that hadn’t gone back to work, more interested in the exchange between the two at the forge.

“A storm? With this weather? You’re delusional, boy!” came a jeer from one of the vikings. Hiccup turned to the group that were now observing how he would react.

“I gave my warning, it’s your choice to ignore it.” He simply said in his best menacing tone, he turned back to Gobber and loudly proclaimed, “I didn’t know that these many vikings have no jobs to do!”

“They do,” Gobber stated, glaring at them all until the group dispersed. The smith dropped a single perfect size nail in front of Hiccup, who thanked him and asked what he owed to the smith.

“Just let me get a look at that leg in the near future, and your other inventions. You and that girl of yours made quite the impression when you showed yourselves at the meetin’ and I want to know what kind of contraption can do that fancy gas thing,” the smith requested.

“My _sister_ and I would be delighted to share our work with a fellow smith, you got yourself a deal!” Hiccup was about to walk away when Gobber’s voice made him turn around.

“Lad, you seem like a sincere man, why’d you lie about a storm?”

“I didn’t lie,” seeing the skeptical look on Gobber’s face he leaned back on the hatch to continue the conversation a bit more privately. “You were there when Eret told his stories, what was the only dragon mentioned by breed?”

“A skril.”

“Exactly,” still seeing that the smith didn’t get it Hiccup almost face-palmed himself, but remembered that he was wearing a helmet and that would look more ridiculous than anything else. He proceeded to calmly explain, “As our trainees have figured out, my sister’s name is Storm, she rides the before mentioned skrill, a dragon who loves storms, she told me a storm is coming. I will take the word of the girl who has been riding in storms since she got on dragon back over the weather which can change in a few hours.” 

His answer left Gobber with something to think about. Hiccup made his way back to the academy as he had told Storm he would meet her there so they could return to their camp together.

The storm did come. It started deep into the evening when most of Berk’s inhabitants were already indoors. ‘Most’ did not include Storm, Hiccup, Toothless and Shadow, generally because they didn’t have a hut to be in and partly because they didn’t think it would be as bad as it was. When they needed to flee to the academy, because they needed a roof over their heads, the storm wasn’t in full swing yet. They occupied the last free cage with the all metal doors, the other cages being taken by the gang’s dragons.

Hiccup took their bags and put them against the far wall, then looked back at the entrance where the cage’s doors weren’t closed all the way. He smiled at the sight he saw. Strom was crouched, looking outside through the gap with Shadow was above her doing the same thing. Hiccup dug through their bags until he found what he was looking for – a detachable hood that attached to Storm’s armor, it was made from Shadow’s scales and did a great job of completely covering Storm’s head where her helmet couldn’t. It served the same purpose as all of her armor did: protecting her from constant electrocution.

He went over and handed to hood to her, his silent encouragement for her to go out and enjoy the storm with Shadow. She did so eagerly while Hiccup got comfortable with Toothless. He lit a couple of candles and took out his sketchbook and started mindlessly doodling. He didn’t know how much time had passed when a very loud thunder startled him, lightning must have struck near the arena. He looked back at his sketchbook finding that his mindless doodling was actually a very recognizable sketch of Astrid.

“I hope she’s okay,” he whispered to himself, looking at the sketch with longing. Toothless gently nudged his hand with a quiet purr, successfully diverting Hiccup’s attention from the parchment. Hiccup put the book aside and let Toothless lay his head in his lap, gently scratching the Night Fury’s head, the movements were so familiar and calming that he almost fell asleep. The cage’s doors opening, together with another clap of lightning made him jump.

Storm stood in the newly opened doors, she was breathing heavily, and Shadow was behind her nervously surveying the sky. Hiccup swiftly stood up and so did Toothless, they sensed the urgency without the need for words. Without wasting time he went to dig through their things once more, this time he was looking for a cloak he had for times when flying in a storm was unavoidable.

“The storm is getting worse,” Storm had finally calmed down enough to talk. “The Hooligans were unprepared, they’re running around like headless chickens trying to secure everything and their livestock are running around the village and the woods!”

“Any people injured?” Hiccup asked, having found his cloak and shrugging it on as fast as he could. He had never been more thankful that Storm had convinced him to cover Toothless’ flying rig with a thin layer of paste made from Shadow’s scales, making the metal underneath less prone to attracting lightning.

“None so far, but I’m pretty sure there is a group of them that decided to go after the animals, and our students are in that group. Most of the damage is to some huts and farm buildings, but if the vikings go out there that will change, because they are armed. With _metal_ weapons.”

Storm’s words made the matter so much more urgent. Hiccup needed to come up with something quickly, because without a plan it would not necessarily go well, with only two dragons that were comfortable enough to fly in the pouring rain and the frequent lightning strikes they had limited options. Luckily one of the dragons was a skrill.

“You redirect as much lightning as you can from the village and I’ll take care of the animals!” with that they stepped out into the downpour, their helmets kept the water from obscuring their vision too much. Toothless closed the cage’s doors with his tail, Hiccup jumped into his saddle and they were off.

Astrid should have known better that to doubt someone who lived with dragons for who knew how long and had a sister literally named Storm. She had told her parents of Dragon boy’s warning when she had gotten home, but they had laughed it off. ‘With weather this good?’ they asked, she felt a little embarrassed and she didn’t press the matter anymore. The truth was that there were no dark clouds or harsh winds and a storm was unlikely. So when the evening rolled around and everything was still quiet she just assumed that Dragon boy was wrong.

The winds picked up, the clouds rolled in, the storm started and no one she knew was prepared. It got progressively worse and the Chief ordered everyone to the Meade hall. A few huts had been hit by lightning and so were farm buildings and fences that were keeping the animals from escaping. Astrid spared a concerned thought to the ‘demons’, as far as anyone knew they were living somewhere in the forest, and this storm didn’t help anyone a bit.

She was with the gang, coordinating a plan to get as many of the livestock indoors when a sheep was dropped down near them. Then another. They wasted no time and got them in to the farm building the gang had made their way over to. Astrid also noted that it seemed like there was a break in the storm, but the harsh downpour proved that wrong, there was a lull in the lightning hits on the village not in the storm itself.

The animals kept getting dropped off and the gang kept leading the animals into the building, they had figured out that dragons were responsible for the animal drop off. And where there were dragons there were ‘Dragon demons’. Lightning strikes had their distinct sound and Astrid looked around the sky trying to see if the lightning had damaged something in the village again, but what she saw truly shocked her. There was a dragon in the sky, a skrill lit up by all the lightning that couldn’t reach the village. The dragon was re-directing all of the lightning to the ocean or anywhere that wasn’t the village, but what made her gasp was the distinct shape of a person on the dragon’s back.

The lightning seemed to dance around them, never quite reaching a target. It was a mesmerizing sight. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eret stand near her, he was also immersed with the pair in the air. She grew a bit worried, she knew what a strike to the head could do to someone and if the person on the skrill, one of the ‘demons’, fell off it would have disastrous consequences. The skril let loose and the deafening noise and blinding light made her avert her eyes. 

The rain got worse, she suddenly couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her. The animals had stopped appearing and she couldn’t see any of her friends around. Lightning landed near her she jumped in fright and the next thing she knew she was picked up by her shoulders. Astrid let out a scream and immediately regretted it as rain water made her choke.

Astrid was put down in front of the Meade hall a moment later. The huge building provided some cover from the rain, and her heart almost burst out of her chest when she turned to see what dragon had given her a lift and came face to face with a Night Fury.

“Toothless…?” she barely managed to whisper when _Dragon boy_ shouted from atop the dragon.

“Get inside!”

Another lightning strike reached the village, but Astrid barely noticed it. She felt like a storm was raging inside her head. She pushed her way into the hall where she saw the rest of the gang already inside drying off, her parents were immediately on her, thanking Thor that she was alright. ‘You should be thanking Hiccup.’ she thought.

She felt like she was walking through thick fog. Of course those eyes were familiar! Those were the eyes she saw every time she used to go to the forge, she saw them after every raid that Hiccup had failed in, every awkward conversation she had with the boy was spent staring in to those eyes. That laugh that had nagged _something_ in her brain every time she heard it today was familiar. Of course Dragon boy was familiar! He was Hiccup!

“Any trouble securing the forge?” the Chief’s voice broke through her daze. Good, she needed a distraction before she went around spouting nonsense about Berk’s long lost heir. She needed to make sure she was right first and that meant getting Dragon boy alone, but she could figure that out later. Giving people false hope was not on her agenda.

“None,” Gobber proudly replied.

“One of the younger ones helped you?” Stoick asked. Astrid noticed that the others were at the same table she had wandered to, where the Chiefs conversation was heard easily. Lightning was once again repeatedly striking outside the building’s doors making the man speak loudly so he could be heard clearly by his friend.

“No, did it all by myself. Nothing should be damaged.” Stoick raised a skeptical eyebrow at the smith’s words, Gobber just didn’t have the ability to secure everything in the half hour before Stoick ordered everyone to the hall. Stoick had great trust in his friend’s abilities to live a normal, fulfilling life, but because of his missing limbs he couldn’t do some things as fast as other people could and with the atrocious weather that came with the storm, even the heathiest viking would’ve had problems.

“How?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Got everything done before the storm hit,” Gobber clarified.

“How did you know it was going to hit?” Stoick inquired more confused than before.

“The Dragon lad came by the forge earlier, mentioned a storm. I was skeptical at first, but somethin’ about the lad seemed trustworthy so I secured everything as a precaution.”

“Why did he only warn you? Better yet, how did he know?”

“I wasn’t the only one that heard his warnin’ as for how, he said something about a skrill and his sister,” Gobber’s eyes caught the gang sitting not far away, he gestured to them. “Ask them, they ought to know something about it.”

With the Chief’s attention shifted to the gang Gobber walked away. Stoick made his way to the table much like he had when he asked about their training, the same tense atmosphere covered them. Stoick the Vast was an imposing man, more so when he wanted answers. Astrid lowered her guilty gaze to the table, she felt like she was about to get scolded for staying out too late like when she was eight. But her guilt didn’t come from keeping quiet about the storm.

“We haven’t had a storm this bad for a while,” he started knowing full well that they had overheard his conversation with Gobber. “No one in the village knew it was coming, but Gobber said that the ‘demons’ had prior knowledge of it. Did you know of it?”

“They mentioned it,” came Fishlegs timid response.

“And you didn’t think to tell me this?” the disappointment was clear in his tone, he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. The gang sat in silence, not knowing what they could say to not anger the Chief more.

“You wouldn’t have believed us Chief,” it was Snotlout who spoke. “I was getting some water for my chores when I overheard Dragon b – the male ‘demon’ tell Gobber about the storm, I wasn’t the only one who overheard though, there was a group of viking watching him talk to Gobber and they mocked him when he even mentioned it and they were older, they know more, so I just forgot about it.”

“My parents laughed it off too,” Astrid pitched in.

“So did one of the carpenters when I went to buy some planks,” Eret agreed, he saw the Chief unconsciously tilt his head in question. “The planks were to board up the decaying windows so no water would come in.”

“Why do you always believe them?” Tuffnut decided to ask, then with narrowed eyes he added. “Are you working with them?”

“They are _helping_ you. And I do have three to four years of experience with dealing with them and while Dragon boy and his dragon thrive in the dark and silence, Storm and her skrill thrive where there is lightning and storms, so it’s safe to say that she knows when one is approaching.” He got a distant look in his eyes and for a moment he said nothing, then he looked straight into Astrid’s eyes. “It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” he asked her.

“Yeah, it was,” she agreed, slightly concerned for Storm. Astrid hoped she was okay.

“They have a skrill? How do we know they didn’t create this storm to prove themselves right?” Stoick angrily asked.

“Skrill storms are mostly dry ones,” Fishlegs piped up. “And we would have seem lightning before we got any rain. And they don’t last that long.” He pointed to the hall’s doors where the storm was still raging. Stoick had to agree, Fishlegs was the most knowledgeable when it came to dragons, yet he was still suspicious for his own reasons. 

“When the storm breaks I want you to find them. Tell them I want the meeting moved to as soon as possible.” Stoick told them, before taking his leave. He had to check with his people to make sure they were all okay.

“Should we have told him how they helped collecting the animals?” Before he was out of earshot he heard Ruffnut ask her friends. He hummed to himself, another thing to question. Stoick felt a headache coming on, he never wished for a block of ice more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a question: what does Storm look like to you? I know I said that she and Hiccup are alike, that they have been mistaken for siblings, but I never specified anything like her hair length, height or fashion sense. I already have a concrete image in my mind, but I'm curious about y'all.  
> If you want, you can come yell at me in my surprisingly non-fandom specific [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sadobsessedmoron). Hope you enjoyed!


	28. A break in the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If you want to leave, we will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a filler chapter.

Toothless almost crashed into the metal doors of the cage, he stopped just in time and jostled Hiccup in the saddle. The rain was getting even worse and getting inside was the only thing that was on their mind, they rushed into the cage, leaving the doors ajar. Shaking off the excess water like a pair of wet dogs they made their way deeper into the space, Toothless laid down, tired yet overall unbothered, Hiccup was calm, a little bit too calm. He took off his cloak and armor so it could dry off the best it could, the familiar movements occupied his mind for a while, until he was left in his everyday attire.

Hiccup nudged Toothless awake so he could remove the dragon’s riding gear. Toothless grumbled in annoyance, but let the man do as he wished. Hiccup laid the gear next to his armor, then found his blanket and snuggled up with Toothless, he laid awake waiting for Storm and Shadow.

It took about fifteen minutes for them to return, both were soaking wet, Storm closed the doors on the still horrible weather covering them in darkness. Shadow opened his jaws giving them some low light, Hiccup took his forgotten candles and silently gestured for Shadow to light them. Storm leaned on the wall as she removed her armor, while Hiccup technically could’ve kept his on, Storm can’t. After a storm she made sure to always take off every piece of armor as it still held onto the electricity from the lightning and touching it without protection came with an unpleasant shock. Storm took off Shadows saddle, and she went as far as removing her prosthetic. Shadow gladly took off her gloves so she wouldn’t have to touch the electric fabric.

Storm picked up her blanket and hoped towards Hiccup, he silently let her sit next to him and cuddled up with her. Shadow laid down farther away from them, still high-strung after everything he could randomly spark sometimes and that could hurt the other three without protection.

No one spoke, the candles flickered with their dying light, the air felt heavy. The light died, in the darkness the deep breathing of the dragons was the only noise if only for a moment. The humans weren’t tired, Storm was simply still full of energy and Hiccup’s mind was running a mile a minute.

“I think…” Hiccup sighed, swallowing down his nerves, “I think we-we may need to leave when the weather clears up.” The statement hung in the air around them, Storm hummed in understanding, she didn’t interrupt his thoughts.

Hiccup’s eyes darter around in the dark, trying to find something to focus on, yet finding nothing. He took comfort in the fact that he couldn’t see Storm’s face and his imagined disappointment on it, he didn’t register her silence, everything was hitting him at once and he hurried to justify his statement.

“As-Astrid saw Toothless, it’s-it’s just a matter of time before my father knows… before the whole tribe knows and I-I just can’t… take that…” he nervously wrung his hands together, the darkness that brought him comfort seemed to suck his bravery away. “If they know I’m… me, they’ll hate me, they’ll drive me away, I won’t be able to help them.”

“Nah.”

“Wh-what?”

“You told me yourself: _I’m done running_. You won’t run, this is just your nerves talking.”

“But Astrid-“

“Won’t say anything. If she still is even half the person you fell in love with, she will talk to you first. After all she didn’t say anything all those years ago when she saw Toothless, why would she say anything now?”

“Because she grew up? Because Stoick deserves to know that his run-away son is right under his nose?”

“Because you want her to tell everyone so you don’t have to keep anymore secrets, because it’s eating you up from inside?”

“Storm…” Hiccup’s felt his eyes welling up with tears, the distress in his voice evident. He felt like his world was crashing all around him. Storm’s arms enveloped him in a tight hug, his head rested on her shoulder as his tears fell. Everything was catching up to him, the possibility that he would have to face his father and tribe, to face his choices, was too much for him.

“Let’s see how it turns out first, okay? Then, if you want to leave, we will.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, he felt drained. He fell asleep to the harsh sounds of the outside weather and Storm’s steady breathing.

Storm held Hiccup while he slept, he was emotionally drained, and she knew that. This uncertainty he was facing was taking a toll on him. Storm hoped from the bottom of her heart that Astrid was still as stubborn as Hiccup made her out to be, finding out what Astrid knows was a priority to Storm. Storm would do anything to keep Hiccup a secret at this time, he was clearly not ready to be known, and he would hate himself if he left Berk in its time of need.

The morning brought a lull in the storm. Hiccup woke up to voices outside the doors, he blinked away his sleepiness and confusion arose in its place. He looked around the space, light filtered through the gaps in the doors, illuminating the space with low light. He rose up from his cocoon of warmth, tucking Storm in with his blanket. He petted Toothless and Shadow on his way to his armor, he kept an ear on the voices outside, trying to figure out who they belonged to.

“They’re okay, may need some more food though,” he finally recognized Fishlegs’ voice, he slowly put on his armor at the same time trying to figure out what he was doing there. If Fishlegs was there, the others were probably near, that meant Astrid was there. Hiccup spared a glance towards the heap of blankets that contained Storm, she was between their dragons, Shadow had moved next to them in the middle of sleeping. He smiled at the sight and readied himself to open the doors, he needed to face the light.

It was bright, but as Hiccup stepped out outside and saw only Fishlegs, Snotlout and Eret, he felt a little lighter. The trio weren’t paying attention to him, even though he wasn’t trying to be quiet.

“So who’s going to get the food? I’m preoccupied.” Snotlout said as he kicked some rubble on the ground.

“With what?” Hiccup asked startling the three. They stared at him as he shrugged not understanding what the big deal was.

“Where did you come from?” Eret asked.

“My mother,” he answered raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Checking on the dragons,” Fishlegs answered. “They seem fine, but we don’t know how long the break in the storm will last and keeping them comfortable is a priority.”

“Like, six barrels of fish and a good pile of rocks would hold them off until the storm passes all the way, or just let them out, they’ll find their own food and they’ll be back here before the rain starts up again,” Hiccup stated, he turned back to the cage he was staying in, he needed to get Toothless back in his gear and sneak him out to get some food.

“Hey, wait!” Snotlout yelped, “Chief wants to move your meeting to as soon as possible, so if you could get your ass to him that would be great,” he said with a satisfied grin.

“I think he would rather use the light to make sure the village is intact,” Storm said, she was walking towards them, her hands working skillfully to fasten her armor back into place, she nodded at Hiccup as she passed him. “Which you should be helping with, oh great heir.” She mockingly bowed, making sure to keep eye contact with a clearly uncomfortable Snotlout as she passed by on her way to the other cages. She opened them and the dragons inside crooned, the light waking then from sleep.

“But he said as soon as – “

“There will be another break in the storm,” she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as the dragons bumped into her in thanks for letting them out as they exited their enclosures. “Making sure the village is okay seems like a better way to spend this time versus talking about shit that can wait for another day.”

“How much longer until the storm passes?” Eret inquired, tilting his head in question.

“I don’t plan on passing,” she smirked at the annoyed look that crossed the ex-trappers face. “I rode out yesterday and we’ll have three to four more breaks until it’s gone for good, plan on riding out now to check again.” She gestured behind them to Shadow, who was back in his saddle waiting for her.

Hiccup had snuck Toothless out while Storm diverted their attention. She patted Eret’s shoulder as she passed by.

“I’ll lock up the dragons when they come back.” She jumped up on Shadow and took off without a moment’s notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a filler chapter. At least I didn't disapear for three months this time! I really hope you enjoyed!


	29. Meetings, again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup and Storm shared a look before sitting down again.

The weather went bad again in a few hours. Hiccup was on his way back to the island when the rain started up again, he knew that he would probably need to wait out until all of the villagers went inside the hall. He had been with Storm for the most of the time, but she had ridden out to observe the storm and that left Hiccup alone.

Spending the day inside wasn’t what people wanted to do and a little rain never bother anyone, but with the promise of another harsh lightning storm they conceded and the whole tribe was in the Meade hall.

During the break in the storm the people had done the best to do the most. The trio that were sent to check on the dragons were one of the groups sent to make sure everything was in order. Stoick had sent out multiple groups around the village, to check on the livestock, to take care of the few buildings that were destroyed, he even sent out Astrid to try to find the ‘demons’.

Stoick had given Astrid the instructions to find the pair’s camp, he wasn’t stupid, he knew they had one somewhere on Berk. He didn’t know these people, he knew only their less than stellar reputations and they were practically living in his back yard, that didn’t sit right with him. Sending Astrid to find them served a dual purpose: finding their camp so he knew where they were and demanding their presence as soon as possible. Or it would have served a dual purpose if she had found them, she only found an old campsite with no clues of where the ‘demons’ went.

Surprisingly Snotlout had come back with the news that the pair would show up during the next storm break. Also, the female ‘demon’ was supposedly an expert on storms and told Snotlout that the harsh weather would last a bit longer.

In the evening the weather cleared up again. Stoick had prepared his most trusted people from his council, Snotlout and Gobber, for the fact that the ‘demons’ would show up. This meeting he wanted was going to be quite personal for him, if everything went well that is. Not telling anyone else that the pair would show up was an oversight on his part.

Nobody else had expected the hall’s door to open as all of the tribe was inside. People dropped what they were doing to stare at the ‘uninvited’ guests. The pair were all dressed up in their gear confidently walking towards the Chief, unintentionally commanding all attention to them. A few of the Hooligans were standing up or moving towards the pair in preparations to either demand why they were there or stop them completely. No one got the chance as Stoick obviously beckoned the pair to a table that was further away from all of the others.

Hiccup felt the eyes that were on him. He didn’t know whether it was because they already knew who he was or just because he and Storm made and imposing sight, because he _knew_ that they made quite an image in their full gear and confident stride, after all they had spent a reasonable amount of time nailing the act. Because after all – the rather ruthless, unapproachable, distant, serious air they carried was all an act.

Sitting at the table, his father, uncle and Gobber, the person he held in the highest regard, was intimidating. Having Storm next to him was a blessing, he knew that she would take everything they dished out and give everything back ten-fold. He felt bad that he wasn’t strong enough to be indifferent in this situation, stacking the responsibility on his sister even when he knew she would also be affected.

“Thank you for agreeing to move the meeting up,” Stoick said after clearing his throat, “We have some things to discuss.”

“Your heir made it seem like it was an order, not a request, but were happy to be here,” Storm said with an awfully too-sweet voice. Her message was clear, they did not enjoy being ordered around and the awkward atmosphere remained. Stoick cleared his throat again.

“Ah, well, let’s not waste any time. The thing I would like to discuss would be Drago, and how we will deal with him.”

“What about him?” Hiccup prompted.

“He is a direct threat to _all_ of us. To Berk as a whole and, from the stories I heard, a threat to you two. You promised to help us with the dragons, so I assumed you would help us with him if needed.”

“ _Assumed,_ hmm, you assumed correctly. But make no mistake, with or without you, we will get rid of him eventually, we already had plans to do so, Berk is an unforeseen advantage.” Storm kept up the sickly sweet tone that irritated Spitelout and Stoick, while Gobber knew better and let a small smile grace his face.

“So Berk is just a tool for you?” Spitelout aggressively demanded, standing up and hitting the table with force. The noise once again brought most of the attention to them, the air turned hostile all around. Hiccup took a deep breath to calm his nerves, placing his elbows on the table, a gesture mirrored by Storm. Neither dignified Spitelout with an answer, their disposition and featureless helmets building a figurative wall, a boundary, making a statement: aggression will get you nowhere.

“Your ‘ _help’_ also injured my son! It makes me think, really think that you are in league with the mad man! Your only task is to divert our attention and make us more vulnerable!” he raged on, not caring about the attention his rant gained. In his eyes they were a danger to Berk. Being held in league with Drago enraged the pair.

“Enough!” They said at the same time, their disposition hadn’t changed. Their outburst silenced the angry man.

“You asked for our help – “ Hiccup ignored his own discomfort, the anger was more prominent.

“ – you sought us out –“ Storm’s voice held the same rage.

“ – you wanted to use _us_ – “

“ – do not try to act high and mighty, _we_ are helping _you_!” She finished the statement with a jab in his direction. They sat in silence for a few moments, Spitelout sat down in shock, he expected to have them stuttering and proving their innocence in which he did not believe in.

“I’m sorry for his outburst,” Stoick said, giving a calming gesture to all, his eyes widened a little when Storm shock her head.

“No, you’re not the one who should apologize in the first place,” the glare was trapped beneath her helmet, yet her tone carried enough malice to get her point across. Spitelout huffed, crossed his arms and decided to be stupid.

“You injured my son, our heir, that’s trying to harm us, not help us.”

“Our third rule,” Hiccup stated “ _You do not threaten us or try to fight us._ Your son – Snotlout was it? – threatened a dragon that we led here, therefore he threatened us.”

“That’s no rea-“ The man tried to argue, only to be interrupted by Storm.

“ _If you don’t abide by our rules, we will retaliate._ We were clear, we retaliated. This thing we have, this alliance, is a very fragile thing. We live with your tribe’s scrutiny, with your suspicion,” she looked directly at Stoick, “your distrust. It’s a fragile thing the alliance we have, compare us with Drago Bludvist again, it’s _over_.”

The statement hung in the air for a moment. Stoick awkwardly cleared his throat, he hadn’t spent much time with the pair, but his uneasiness about their overall being was noticed and that unnerved him, because he met them less than five times during their time on his island and he thought he hadn’t let any of his feelings show.

What truly bothered Stoick was the pairs willing helpfulness. No one he knows would be so dedicated to a tribe of strangers when they had nothing to gain, well they did gain allies against Drago, but he had a suspicion that allies against that madman weren’t hard to come by. So the ‘demons’ were in this with no gain, they were training his people, they warned them before the storm, they went out _in_ the storm to rescue livestock that they had no ownership over.

They had nothing here, yet to Stoick, it seemed like they were putting everything they had to better the Hooligan tribe’s lives.

“We would be more inclined to trust you if you took of those helmets of yours,” Gobber decided to finally say something. On his face a kind smile rested, he was the only one truly comfortable sitting at the table. His voice brought a smile to Hiccup’s face.

“Unfortunately that’s not possible,” Hiccup answered him, he missed the black smith and didn’t want to pass up even the smallest opportunity to talk to him.

“Why’s that? My boy said you took off those things in training, and those things ain’t going to scare us.” Spitelout said. Storm decided to answer him with the sickly sweet tone of hers.

“We took off our helmets then because we trust our trainees, we don’t trust you even a little bit. So the helmets stay on. Anyway, the meeting has gotten of track, let’s get back to it, shall we?”

“Right, Drago, how do we plan to deal with him?” Stoick asked, he was prepared to hear out what the pair had planned, for the simple reason they had dealt with these kind of things more often. Storm looked at Hiccup and with his nod started answering.

“We have no set plan,” she said and pointedly ignored Spitelout’s irritated huff. “We don’t know when this is going to go down or what scale the attack will be. All we have is an estimated time frame, but anything could throw it off. We are actively preparing, us with the dragon training, you with the weapons and warrior training, all _we_ have talked about,” she gestured to Hiccup and herself, “was a possible fall back plan, but we would like to hear out what you have planned first.”

“We don’t have much of a plan either,” Stoick admitted, he was a little shocked that the pair had thought about this matter so thoroughly. “Our best chance is to take care of any battle on the ground, while the dragon scouts take care of any danger in the air.”

Strom hummed in understanding. They were left staring at each other as she was waiting for him to ask what fall back plan they had thought of, she was not going to volunteer information if he didn’t think of it as important enough to ask about. Finally it was Gobber who got sick of the silence and asked with a roll of his eyes.

“What ‘bout the fall back?”

“We are thinking about reintroducing dragon back on Berk at a wider scale, so that in the case that things go south there would be enough of them to take the people to safety, of course that would need your approval and the tribes cooperation.” Hiccup answered him.

“I will need to think about it and bring it up with the tribe as a whole, I have no answer for you yet.” Stoick said, he seemed deep in thought. No doubt, a variation on the pair proposition will be circling the people in the end of the day, his people were nosy after all, but at the distance they kept, not everything could be heard. “I heard you have some demands of your own, so out with them.”

“Not demands – a request,” Storm was quick to correct, she addressed Gobber next. “We need access to your forge, we need to work on some saddles and we do not have the proper equipment ourselves.”

“No problem lass, I do have to look at your inventions as was promised, so we will get two birds with one stone,” he cheerily replied. Silence once again enveloped them, the pair sat at the table for a few minutes, but after seeing that they were not going to be addressed further went to stand up and leave – the stared _were_ getting quite annoying.

“Wait!” Stoick’s rushed voice stopped them in their tracks. “I still have a few questions, about someone you may have encountered in your travels!”

Hiccup and Storm shared a look before sitting down again. Both had an idea about who the man was talking about and they were actually quite interested in what kind of questions Stoick had in mind. They gestured for him to start talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy, it's 4 am again! For some reason I had trouble getting this chapter done, but still. Hope you enjoyed!


	30. Meetings end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was angry when Hiccup left, very angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short. Sorry for any mistakes!

Stoick sat there for a moment and glared away anyone who was too close. About who he wanted to ask about was no secret to the ones at the table, but he wanted to keep it with them, he didn’t want any gossip going around the village. Especially considering that the topic of _Hiccup_ was all but banned in the village and it was his fault. The last time he mentioned that he had a son was the failed attempt of finding him, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, it was his only attempt of finding him, it was born out of rage, and didn’t even get off of Berk.

He was angry when Hiccup left, very angry, so much so that mentioning his name made his blood boil. Seeing any of the boy’s failed inventions, any of his sketches, the inside of the forge made him angry. Blowing up at anyone who dared to speak about his son was the worst thing he could have done when Hiccup left. His anger deleted his son from the village. The tribe, fearing Stoick’s rage, got rid anything that could remind the Chief of him, or in some cases (Gobber) hid everything out of Stoick’s sight.

It took close to a year for Stoick to understand that Hiccup was not coming back and by then it was far too late. By then, many had forgotten Hiccup had even existed. The regret he felt when he thought about his mistakes made it hard to breathe.

The pair sitting in front of him was his only viable option on any information, he only hoped that he wasn’t too late.

“You have traveled a lot, I assume?” He asked, the ‘demons’ nodded simultaneously, they were content to let him speak. Stoick took a deep breath. “I have to ask, have you encountered a teenage boy about five years ago, by any chance?”

“We have encountered many teenage boys in our travels, which one are _you_ talking about?” Storm asked with a raised eyebrow, Hiccup quietly sighed, he didn’t appreciate how little information Stoick gave, if he didn’t know that Stoick was asking after him, he would be lost.

“He is about five feet tall, auburn hair, very skinny – almost sickly, green eyes, large ears, one leg – the left one gone – like yours. Oh, and he was probably riding a dragon, a Night Fury.” Berk’s Chief answered, giving quite good information. But truly the pair had no intentions of revealing where Hiccup was, Hiccup had his obvious reasons and so did Storm. She wasn’t about to betray her brother, and she hated people like Stoick.

“Not ringing any bells so far, what was he like?” Storm questioned, with the intent to stump Stoick. She knew full well that he hadn’t known Hiccup enough back then to give a comprehensive description of what kind of character Hiccup was. After all, Hiccup had told her that his father was largely unsupportive of his inventions, that he looked at Hiccup with disappointment more than love, that Hiccup had started hiding who he truly was before the Green Death debacle and there wasn’t enough time to reconnect with his father before he left.

“Sarcastic, loyal, respectful – “ Spitelout was about to interrupt Gobber, who had started describing Hiccup, but shut up after receiving twin glares from Gobber and Stoick, “ – shy, reserved, determined. A true friend to those who deserved it, a true menace to others. Didn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

“He likes to draw, he is very creative on a piece of paper and in the smithy," Added Stoick. "Puts other before himself most of the time, but disregards any advice or concern when he sets his mind on something, he is quiet and weak. He left because of some petty argument. His name is Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.”

“Never seen him,” Hiccup was quick to state, after all he didn’t lie. For about two years after leaving he didn’t have a home, he didn’t have any access to a mirror, so technically he hadn’t seen himself.

“I have,” Storm answered, all eyes turned to her, even Hiccup was surprised that she gave them that answer. “Once, long ago. Haven’t seen him since he helped me.”

“Where?” Stoick quickly asked, jumping up from his seat.

“The island I once held home.” Her voice was resigned, she had no intention of betraying Hiccup, but making sure Stoick knew he had fucked up when he made Hiccup leave.

“Where is it?”

“Destroyed. And let me make myself clear, even if I knew the boy you described I would not tell you,” she growled, it was impossible to miss the bewildered and hurt look that took place on Stoick’s face. “He saved me. He told me what you did and I will never forget how you hurt your own son Stoick. The boy you described has no ill feelings towards you, but that doesn’t matter because I hate you enough for both of us.”

Storm stood up and Hiccup followed suit, her eyes were set in a hard glare as she leaned over the table, getting in Stoick’s face. Hiccup couldn’t really believe that Storm had snapped, but he understood why she did, when Hiccup had described Stoick the description hit close to home for her. No one at the table could believe that the calm woman had snapped.

“You are a man that has chased away your own son, your tribe ridiculed him for all of his life and you did nothing to stop it. I hate you with everything I have. Men like you disgust me and know nothing but hurting others,” she let out a humorless chuckle, shaking her head. “You don’t even see how _you_ were the final reason he left. You kept saying ‘ _is’, ‘likes’, ‘puts’._ Do you _really_ believe that your son would be the same person as when he left?”

She stood up straight and shook her head again. Her eyes filled with hate, her stance tense. She continued.

“You didn’t even try to look for him. A man like you doesn’t deserve a son.” She bit out and promptly left the table. Hiccup hurried after her, leaving the shocked trio behind. The storm outside had started up again, almost like the earth sensed Storm’s own feelings.

As the Meade hall’s doors shut behind them Storm ripped off her helmet. She harshly wiped her eyes, she was crying. Hiccup placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her into his embrace. She sobbed a couple of times before she talked, she did it so quietly that Hiccup almost didn’t hear it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. This isn’t about me,” she sobbed once more, Hiccup tightened his hold. “It’s way harder for you, you shouldn’t have to deal with me!”

“No no no,” he gently lifted her head from his shoulder where she tried to hide her tears. “You have nothing to be sorry for. C’mon, let’s get out the rain.” He gently placed her helmet back on her head and led her towards the academy. He needed to get her to talk before she buried her feelings deep inside herself and it would be better done inside a safe place, with their whole family together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is kicking my ass, so while I try to get chapters out as soon as possible they might not be very long, sorry. Hope you enjoyed!  
> Btw, another question for y'all: Should I include Valka in this?


	31. Jumbled emotions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My outburst… I don’t think it helped…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not long, but at least it's fast!

Storm was pacing around the cage. Hiccup followed her with his eyes, his face pinched with worry. He had already taken off his armor and was sitting between Toothless and Shadow, the dragons were also staring at Storm with worry. She was still in her wet armor, she didn’t even take off her helmet, which really unnerved Hiccup, and he could clearly see that she was tense. He knew that he needed to let her calm down before talking to her, lest she had another outburst at him and feel worse.

She suddenly stopped and turned to Hiccup.

“Sorry, I-I’m sorry,” Storm stuttered, her heartbreaking tone cutting deep. She once again ripped off her helmet, clutching it in her hands so hard that her knuckles turned white, tears were streaming down her face with no sign of stopping. “I fucked it up, I antagonized him. I’m sorry. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t throw us of the island…”

“Storm – “ he tried interrupting her.

“No!” she sobbed. “This is not about me – it was never about me, and I made it about ME! _You’re_ the one who had to sit in front of your father, who never really gave you attention, your uncle who is just a complete insecure asshole, and your mentor, the one who knows you the best in the world and you couldn’t say anything to them! You couldn’t… you couldn’t tell them the truth.”

“You did a pretty good job telling the truth for me,” he softly said, standing up from the ground. Storm let out a sad laugh, followed by another sob.

“It wasn’t your truth, it was mine. He-he knew you, to a degree. You said he never supported your creativity, but he never stopped you, he still believes that you are the same,” she sniffled. “What I said was true, I hate him enough for both of us. When-when he called you _quiet and weak_ I couldn’t help but think of my own father. Stoick doesn’t understand, he called your argument petty, but he loves you.”

“Storm you can’t control your emotion all of the time, you were doomed to break. Stoick isn’t innocent, he shares qualities with the man that was your father, and me being quiet during the meeting didn’t help.”

“It wasn’t supposed to _help._ It was a stressful situation for you and I made it worse! ...I’m sorry.” She couldn’t help but apologize again.

“Proud, rash, angry, always has to be right. A few qualities they share. I understand why you broke down and I don’t think it was selfish, no matter what you think. And my father did make me leave the only place I knew as home,” he calmly said. “And that hits way too close for you.”

“They are not the same!” she yelped. “Despite _everything_ your father cares about you, he doesn’t understand, doesn’t listen, thinks with his rage and not his brain, but he cares about you. Five years later he still believes you’re alive. He was the final straw that made you leave, but he _didn’t chop off your leg and leave you in the middle of the woods to die!_ ”

“The man that was your father was a piece of shit!” Hiccup couldn’t help but yell, he didn’t hate easily, but Storm’s father was a different case.

“And he’s dead! I couldn’t be happier that he is dead!” her tears had stopped, but her emotions were still jumbled. She really did hate Stoick, but Hiccup still cared about the man, and she help Hiccup’s opinion in the highest regard. “For a moment, during the meeting I saw my father staring back at me in place of Stoick… Your father isn’t the same as mine, he just needs to see his faults. If he truly wants to reconnect with you, he will do that. My outburst… I don’t think it helped…” She whispered.

“Maybe it didn’t, but I don’t care. It’s a good way to see if Stoick has changed, and if he doesn’t go to a rage induced rampage, I’ll start thinking about telling him the truth, because honestly? The meeting wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I’m more ready then I thought.” He said with a small smile.

Something tugged at her glove, it was Shadow. The dragon sadly looked up as he tugged her glove completely off. Storm got the message and started undressing down to her everyday clothes. She was exhausted. Hiccup got their blankets and gently nudged her towards Toothless who was already laying down. When Storm laid down the Night Fury licked her face, making her laugh. Hiccup laid down next to her, they fell asleep to the purring of both dragons.

Hiccup knew Storm was going to become more guarded, at least for a few days, she wasn’t a fan of letting her emotions cloud her thoughts. He could only hope that Stoick had changed in the last five years, because hiding himself was getting old. Astrid had clearly not said anything, and he was thankful for that, but… Hiccup wanted to be known, Stoick reaction would tell if he could freely do that or if hiding was the best course of action.

All he knew, was that talking to Astrid was something he needed to do. Time will tell when that was going to happen.

Sitting in a badly lit corner of the hall Stoick was fuming. The ‘demon’ got to him, told him that she would keep his _son_ away from him. She had no right! She knew nothing!

_“I will never forget how you hurt your own son Stoick.”_

Those words were haunting him. Had he really hurt his Hiccup? All he wanted to do was make his son’s world a safer place, sometimes that meant keeping him away from things he wanted to do. Stoick knew his son was different, training a dragon proved that, but different wasn’t good in this world. At least it wasn’t, now he didn’t know. If he had nurtured his talents rather than trying to hide them form the tribe’s view, would Hiccup had stayed. Probably. The answer hurt him more than he thought it would.

_“You are a man that has chased away your own son.”_

He did. He had chased away his own son. Stoick wanted his son to get rid of his first true friend to make his tribe more comfortable, Stoick hadn’t even tried after a few adverse reactions from his people. He could have done it, could have ordered them to try, but he didn’t. Why? Why was he so weak, when he needed to be strong for his son, who had sacrificed a limb for the people who gave nothing in return?

He was scared. He was scared of change and hurting Hiccup was easier, because Hiccup always picked himself up, with no help from others. The fact itself proved that Stoick wasn’t a good father. The chief has seen how other parents were with their children, when Astrid had run herself to the ground her mother was there to take care of her, her father was the one who helped her hone her axe skills; Fishlegs’ parents never made him feel inferior when he didn’t reach the expected viking standards; The twins parents never took away their fun completely, unless it would hurt someone; even Snotlout’s father never stopped believing in the boy even when he screwed up.

Stoick pushed Hiccup away at a young age. He publicly chastised him when the boy only wanted to help. He tried to make a man out of his son, and missed the point when he became one. His son who never asked for help because he hadn’t received any in his childhood, his son who ran around the woods in his free time because the tribe didn’t like him all that much. By pushing his son to be the typical viking, Stoick had alienated him further than the boy’s strange hobbies or uncharacteristic frame ever did.

Why would Hiccup want to come back to a place that held so little good for the boy? He wouldn’t.

A lone tear escaped him. He could only hope that the pair would still be there in the morning. He was angry, furious at the girl, but they were the only chance to reach Hiccup. He would write a letter when he got back home, he would ask the ‘demons’ to take it with them and if they ever crossed paths with Hiccup again, to give it to him.

Maybe, when he had reigned in his emotions he would thank the girl for making his see the truth he had hid from himself. He was a shitty father, he just hoped it wasn’t too late to be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking naps in the middle of the day doesn't help with my sleep schedule, but fuck that. Had a burst of inspiration tonight so I wrote this little something. Hope you enjoyed!  
> P.S. Storm's past was something that changed in my mind during the frist few chapters of this fic, but now I have it set in stone, her past is not a happy one and more is to come in regards to that.


End file.
